Lamar Jackson is eying a new contract with the Baltimore Ravens, and as part of that, negotiations take place usually between agents and the team.
In the case of Jackson, this won’t be happening. The team is meeting with Jackson’s mother, who is doing the work herself on behalf of Jackson and her family. In the weeks ahead, that could cause a tough situation for the Ravens and Jackson as it relates to a deal.
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Recently, NFL.com insider and NFL Network personality Ian Rapoport went on the Pat McAfee Show and talked more about the complexities of Jackson’s deal. Having a different style of negotiations could end up not playing to Jackson’s advantage in the end according to Rapoport.
“It is a lot of pressure, unbelievably difficult. The stakes are incredibly high because if you lock yourself into a bad deal you could cost yourself 10s of millions of dollars”
@RapSheet on Lamar Jackson & negotiating a contract extenstion without an agent #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE
He said:
“Agents a lot of times sort of act as the buffer between teams and players, so if you’re really pissed off about some counter-offer, you scream at the agent, talk about why you’re going to put him out of business or whatever you want to say. The player generally has no idea and the relationship is good. It is a little different with Lamar Jackson, because it is mom sport of acting as his business partner, business manager. Of course everyone went bananas about pre-draft process and he still went in the first round and still was able to negotiate his rookie deal. Lamar is seeing the same sort of eyebrows raised from the agent community and players as well because his mother is doing it. It is a lot of pressure, it is unbelievably difficult, the stakes are incredibly high because if you lock yourself into a bad deal, you could cost yourself tens of millions of dollars. We’ll see which way it goes. It is going to be big. The Ravens do very good deals often for the Ravens, so this one is the most fascinating of all the deals.”
So far, there’s been no movement on a deal, but talks are likely to continue during the offseason. Jackson’s unique representation status wasn’t a barrier to a deal before, but as Rapoport points out, it was a much different case when Jackson was a rookie. Now, he’s been an established star, so it will be important for everyone to get what they want in the end.
Jackson Not Looking to Leave Ravens
Would the quarterback want to stay with the team long-term or would he be looking to move on? Loyalty can be a foreign concept in today’s NFL, but it’s clear that Jackson is not a person who is looking to fly the coop to a new team and greener pastures simply because of money and money alone.
Speaking with the media after OTA sessions, Jackson was asked where things stood with contract talks. As he said, things are still ongoing, but he wants to stay with the team well into the future and be a member of the Ravens forever.
“I would love to be here forever.” @Lj_era8
He said:
“I spoke to (Eric) DeCosta a month or two ago, but you know, I would love to be here forever. I love Baltimore, I love the whole organization. I love everybody in the building. Hopefully we’ll be making something happen pretty soon or whatever.”
That’s quite a statement to make, and it only serves to prove just how much Jackson wants to stay with the team for the future and remain in the mix.
Timeline for Jackson’s Potential Extension
It’s clear both the Ravens as well as Jackson want to see a deal get done in the near future, and the fact that the sides have talked could only be construed as a positive at this point in time. The fact that the talks have been progressing and Jackson seems very motivated to stay leads to some optimism that a deal could be struck at some point this summer or ahead of the 2021 season. It seems that is not a completely unrealistic timetable with some of these updates.
At the very least, it’s great news to note that Jackson wants to stick with the Ravens for his career. Having one of the most exciting young quarterbacks will be a huge win for the Ravens if they can get a deal worked out.
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Insider Explains Lamar Jackson’s Unique Contract Negotiations: Report