The Baltimore Ravens All-Pro tight end made the media rounds during the week leading up to the Super Bowl and on every live broadcast or podcast he appeared on, the contract status and future of his quarterback inevitably came up.
Andrews didn’t dance around or avoid sharing his feelings and hopes on the matter. He continually reiterated his belief that the team and former unanimous league MVP will be able to get a deal done this offseason that will ensure that the two of them would be playing together for the foreseeable future.
In an appearance on ‘the Von Cast’ hosted by eight-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Von Miller of the Buffalo Bills, he said that his quarterback “deserves” to be paid more than Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers who signed a three-year extension worth $150.8 million ahead of the 2022 season.
“[Lamar Jackson] does more than Aaron Rodgers”
“He deserves it, he deserves more,” Andrews said. “He’s a fierce competition. Every time he steps on that field, he’s the one. He’s the guy, there’s no one like him…he’s a very special guy and I know he’s going to get paid.”
According to spotrac.com, Rodgers’ average annual salary is $50,271,667 million with a cap hit of $31,623,568 in 2023 and a potential out following next season that would incur a dead cap charge of $24,480,000 million.
Andrews said he “hopes the deal gets done” because he knows Jackson wants to remain with the team that drafted him No. 32 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Louisville.
“Hopefully both parties can get together to get that done,” he added.
Since Jackson became entrenched as the full-time starter, the two of them have been arguably the best quarterback-tight end tandem behind only Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs who will be playing in their third Super Bowl together on Sunday, February 12, 2023, against the Philadelphia Eagles.
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Andrews has recorded 279 catches for 3,612 yards and has scored 31 touchdowns in 68 games with Jackson in his career since the two of them entered the league in 2018 per statmuse.com. In the nine career games that he has played without Jackson, he has just 57 catches for 701 yards and has scored 3 touchdowns so it’s clear that their success is closely tied to one another.
Von Miller Believes Jackson ‘Does More’ Than Rodgers
The two-time Superbowl champion and MVP of Super Bowl 50 made a compelling argument to reinforce Jackson’s case to be compensated more than the four-time league MVP. He pointed out that he is much more involved and integral to the Ravens’ offense than Rodgers is for the Packers because of all the multifaceted ways that he can impact the game.
“He does more than Aaron Rodgers,” Miller said. “He throws, he passes, he does everything and Aaron Rodgers is making $50 million a year.”
Since becoming the full-time starter in his second season in the league, Jackson has accounted for over 63 percent of the Ravens’ total offense in years where he started at least 15 games and over 50 percent in the last past two seasons where he was limited to just 12 due to injury and illness.
He is the most electrifying and dynamic talent at quarterback in the league currently and arguably of all time. Jackson has already led the league in touchdown passes once and has shattered several of the rushing records for his position as the focal point of a revolutionary rushing offense.
“He’s been the MVP before, he’s done everything under the sun to prove to his team, to prove to his ownership that he’s the guy,” Miller said. “They said that he couldn’t throw, he started throwing the ball…He does everything that it takes to win. He’s hard to tackle, I know first hand.”
Andrews Wants to Offense Evolve, Negative WR Narrative Changed
The Ravens are still searching for their next offensive coordinator following the resignation of Greg Roman on January 19, 2023. In conversation with Chris Simms of NBC Sports on the set of Pro Football Talk, the two-time Pro Bowler expressed his thoughts and hopes that whoever the team hires to design and call plays on offense will build up and emphasize the passing attack.
Ravens TE Mark Andrews on what a new OC needs to bring: “this is such a pass happy league. If you’re not doing it, you’re gonna fall behind”. Said they need to change the narrative that Baltimore isn’t a great place for WR to flourish
“This is such a pass-happy league nowadays that if you’re not doing it, you’re almost falling behind,” Andrews said. “We’re going to be able to run the ball but we have to be able to pass the ball at a higher rate. That’s a dangerous team when you start doing that.”
According to Pro Football Reference, the Ravens have ranked in the bottom half of the league in total passing yards in each of the last five seasons with the exception of 2021 when they finished 13th with 3,961 and have ranked dead last at 32nd the year prior in 2020 with 2,739.
Another aspect about the team on the offensive side of the ball that Andrews would like to see changed is the negative perception of the organization in regards to being a desirable destination for veteran free-agent wide receivers.
“I think we have to change that narrative,” he said. “Baltimore and the Ravens should be a spot that guys want to go. It should be a destination and we’re going to make it that.”
Andrews has been the Ravens, leader in targets, receptions, receptions receiving yards, and touchdowns in three of the last four seasons. The only exception was the 2020 season when he played in a career-low 14 games and was barely edged out in each category by wide Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown who requested a trade last offseason despite recording his first 1,000-yard receiving season in 2021.
A new direction at offensive coordinator that is expected to come with a philosophy shift toward more balance will go a long way towards making Charm City seem more appealing for proven and established players at the wide receiver position that hit the open market still in their prime or with plenty left in the tank.
The Ravens have cast a “wide net” in their search for Roman’s successor with the vast majority of candidates possessing extensive backgrounds with higher volume passing attacks and that have spent time working closely with quarterbacks and wide receivers especially.
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Mark Andrews Says Lamar Jackson ‘Deserves More’ Than Aaron Rodgers