Getty The Ravens are a possible landing spot for a "combustible" Super Bowl winner.
Lamar Jackson is doing his level best to shred NFL defenses in 2022, despite the lack of an elite wide receiver on the Baltimore Ravens’ roster. Jackson’s throwing to a cast of young pass-catchers, all of whom have potential, but none truly scare defenses.
That would all change if the Ravens signed a “combustible” Super Bowl winner who remains on the free-agent market. This high-profile and often controversial wideout is ready to return to the field in November and a former No. 1 overall draft pick believes the Ravens could be a landing spot.
Their chances of giving Jackson “a reliable weapon” would hinge on how much this veteran receiver warmed to the idea of playing in coordinator Greg Roman’s run-first offense.
Ravens Can Improve ‘Deep Passing Game’ by Signing Pro-Bowler
Writing for NFL.com, former Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants quarterback David Carr named the Ravens as a possibility for Odell Beckham Jr.
Carr admitted “Baltimore feels a little like a pipe dream,” but he also noted how “Beckham would add some much-needed depth at the position and give Lamar Jackson a reliable weapon in the deep passing game (an area where he struggled without Bateman on Sunday).”
There are some caveats about the Ravens approaching Beckham, according to Carr. The player drafted first overall in 2002 outlined a potential scheme problem: “This pairing has the potential to turn combustible, given the way receivers have been used in Baltimore lately. Since Jackson entered the NFL in 2018, the Ravens rank last in the NFL in receiver targets (1,119) and receiver catches (683); don’t forget that Marquise Brown requested a trade out of Baltimore to a system that would be friendlier to his skill set.”
It’s a reasonable argument considering Beckham is seen by some as the archetypal “diva receiver” who demands the ball on every play. Yet, as Carr pointed out, Jackson doesn’t seem worried about how things might work between OBJ and the Ravens.
The franchise quarterback recently liked a tweet that suggested Beckham join the roster:
Lamar knows
There’s no doubt many quarterbacks would welcome a receiver of Beckham’s skills. The 29-year-old three-time Pro-Bowler is only still on the market because of injury.
Beckham suffered a torn ACL while helping the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. It was OBJ who opened the scoring with this 17-yard touchdown catch:
OBJ’S FIRST CATCH IS A TOUCHDOWN. #RamsHouse @OBJ
📺: #SBLVI on NBC
📱: t.co/K02y40b5Nu
There’s every chance Beckham will be ready to go in mid-November, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who anticipates a “feeding frenzy.”
When healthy, Beckham is still a source of big plays who would expand the playbook for Roman and Jackson. The latter might even consider the Ravens signing Beckham an incentive to agree his own lucrative, new deal.
Jackson Needs a Sweetener in Contract Talks
There’s still no new deal on the table for Jackson, and the Ravens are taking quite a risk with the most dynamic quarterback in the game. Jackson’s proving he merits a fully guaranteed and bumper payday thanks to 1,067 yards and nine touchdowns through the air already this season. He’s also rushed for 374 yards and a pair of scores on the ground.
Those are MVP-level numbers, especially since Jackson’s go-to target is tight end Mark Andrews. Second-year pro Rashod Bateman has tried to emerge as a deep threat on the outside, but a foot injury kept him out of Week 5’s 19-17 win over the Bengals.
Devin Duvernay is the best of Jackson’s other options, but he’s more of a roving weapon who can be used out wide and from the backfield. Putting Beckham in the same formations with Andrews and Duvernay, combined with Jackson’s rushing threat, would put defenses in a nightmare bind each week.
It might also convince Jackson to meet Ravens’ general manager Eric DeCosta halfway over his next contract. Taking a little less in guaranteed cash will be easier to sell to Jackson if he has an elite supporting cast for the peak years of his career.