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Lamar Jackson still doesn’t have a new, long-term contract from the Baltimore Ravens, but he does have two notable backers who hope he eventually gets paid, in Dak Prescott and Deshaun Watson.
Prescott wants Jackson to earn more than Jalen Hurts received from the Philadelphia Eagles. The Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback made his feelings clear speaking on The Adam Schefter Podcast, “I support those guys getting their money. Hopefully he’s next, and he tops Jalen.”
That’s not likely to happen while Jackson hasn’t budged on wanting the kind of fully guaranteed deal Deshaun Watson got from the Cleveland Browns last offseason. Watson is in touch with Jackson, but he says the two haven’t spoke about any negotiations, per Zac Jackson of The Athletic, “Hope he gets what he wants and deserves.”
Hope is about all Jackson’s supporters can offer at this stage of what’s become a protracted saga between player and franchise. The Ravens have stood firm on what they’re prepared to pay and how they’re willing to pay it, but Jackson hasn’t relented on his own assessment of his worth.
Lamar Jackson Sticking to Desire for Deshaun Watson Deal
What made Watson’s deal unique was the fully guaranteed nature of the five-year contract he received from the Browns. All those years were set in stone, along with an unprecedented sum of $230 million up front.
The deal changed the landscape of an already bloated QB market, even if the rest of the NFL doesn’t want to create a new status quo. Jackson certainly took notice and he’s still “fixated” on earning “something similar to the type of deal that Deshaun Watson got from Cleveland,” according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
So far Ravens’ general manager Eric DeCosta has resisted meeting Jackson’s demands, although that’s not to say the team hasn’t worked hard to put a presentable offer in front of No. 8.
Those efforts included the Ravens offering Jackson more than the $179.3 million guaranteed for injury Pelissero’s colleague Ian Rapoport reported Hurts got from the Eagles.
Jackson was in line to make more money later in his contract when guarantees were activated, per Rapoport. Yet, Jackson still turned down the deal, a decision that’s beginning to look like it’s backfired for the player set to enter the 2023 NFL season under the non-exclusive franchise tag.
Lamar Jackson’s Running Out of Options
When the Raven used the non-exclusive tag, they knew they were leaving themselves vulnerable to another team making Jackson an offer. If the Ravens didn’t want to match, they’d get two first-round picks in return.
The franchise tag was a good way of gauging Jackson’s market and giving the Ravens a better idea of the type of sums they’d have to match to keep him. There’s just one problem. Nobody’s made an offer. While it’s strange for a quarterback as gifted as Jackson not to have a long line of suitors bidding for his services, his insistence on full guarantees aren’t helping.
As Ari Meirov revealed to Jade McCarthy for The 33rd Team, Hurts “didn’t get the fully guaranteed structure, which the Ravens I’m sure are happy about, and Lamar Jackson’s looking around, still looking at the Deshaun Watson deal which, clearly has become an outlier now.”
The rest of the league doesn’t want to cross the threshold the Browns set with Watson, so Jackson is running out of options. He’s now faced with an uncomfortable reality.
Jackson must compromise in order to stay with the one team that definitely wants him beyond this season.
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