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BALTIMORE
Questions about QB LAMAR JACKSON? Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic:
It’s been years since the Ravens’ top decision-makers have been in Indianapolis with the task of locating the team’s next starting quarterback. Even in 2018, they weren’t focused on finding a successor for Joe Flacco. Lamar Jackson just became too good to pass up. The Ravens are not in the quarterback market, but that doesn’t mean they’re exempt from the quarterback conversation.
Four years after drafting Jackson, the Ravens insist that their confidence in him hasn’t wavered despite an inconsistent and injury and illness-marred 2021 season. Yet, when DeCosta fulfills his media obligation Wednesday afternoon on Day 2 of the combine, a good number of questions, just like it was for Paton and Colbert, will likely be related to the quarterback position, albeit for different reasons.
The Ravens have made clear that they want the 25-year-old Jackson to be their quarterback for the foreseeable future. Whenever he’s been asked about his contract over the past year, Jackson has downplayed the situation and reiterated that he envisions himself as a Raven. There really hasn’t been any public hedging from either side.
Yet, there also has been no indication of progress in negotiations on a contract extension for the league’s former unanimous Most Valuable Player. With each passing week, Jackson gets closer to the reality of playing the 2022 season on the fifth and final year of his rookie contract. That was almost unthinkable at this time last year when Ravens officials at least publicly were treating a Jackson contract extension as little more than a formality.
“I think they’re on dangerous ground,” said Joel Corry, a former NFL agent who writes about and analyzes contracts and salary-cap matters for CBS Sports. “This is really the window to get something done. That is, if you want to keep your quarterback long term.”
The Ravens do, but that won’t quiet the noise until there’s a resolution. This is, after all, the offseason of the quarterback with uncertainty involving the status of stars Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson and Kyler Murray, and plenty of other established starters, like Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo, Baker Mayfield and Carson Wentz. A dozen teams or more figure to face quarterback questions either this offseason or the next.
In some cases, the question is whether a team has the right guy. In others, it’s how long will that guy stay and how much it will cost to keep him.
“Just about any other team that wants their quarterback and has a quarterback who wants to be there gets this worked out before it gets to this point, the last year,” said NFL Network analyst Marc Ross, a former New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles executive. “Especially with Lamar and the way he plays. Everyone can get hurt, but that factor is there for him. I definitely thought he would have locked it up. It seems like it’s more on him than the Ravens. I don’t think it’s, by any stretch, the Ravens not trying. I’m sure they’re doing all they can to try and do this.”
About a month ago, DeCosta insisted that both sides are comfortable with the status of the negotiations and said that they are working at “Lamar’s pace.” He said nothing has changed from last offseason when DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh spoke so confidently about the two sides reaching an agreement on a deal.
There isn’t a whole lot to be gained for either side by continuing to wait, unless the Ravens suddenly are skeptical about Jackson’s ability to lead the team to a Super Bowl and want to see him stay healthy in 2022 before making a long-term financial commitment. They are adamant that’s not the case. DeCosta recently called Jackson “the right guy” for the Ravens and chalked up the team’s offensive issues to Jackson not being healthy and the myriad injuries to his supporting cast.
For the organization, an extension would create much-needed 2022 cap space before free agency starts in two weeks and provide all-important cost certainty. Team officials can begin formulating their plans, not just for this offseason but for years to come, knowing what they’ll have to spend on the rest of their roster. A deal would also solidify Jackson’s status as the face of the franchise and eliminate a potential major distraction heading into a crucial 2022 season.
“You’re going to hear about this all year. Every day that goes by, you’ll hear about this,” Ross said. “Any team will tell you that you just want to eliminate as many distractions as possible.”
For Jackson, a contract extension would provide generational wealth and long-term security following a season in which he missed five full games and three quarters of another. It also would ensure that he didn’t have to spend the upcoming season answering weekly questions about his contract or worrying about anything beyond helping the Ravens get to the playoffs.
Betting on yourself certainly comes with risks. If Jackson struggles in 2022 or gets hurt or Baltimore has another early playoff flameout, what do the Ravens do then? If you’re Jackson, why let it get to that point?
“He shouldn’t want to play another year without a long-term deal,” Corry said.
ESPN analyst and longtime NFL defensive back Ryan Clark took it a step further last week, saying on the network’s “NFL Live” show that Jackson shouldn’t even set foot in Maryland without an agreement on an extension.
“This guy has absolutely carried this team since taking over for Joe Flacco,” Clark said. “He (won) an MVP, two back-to-back seasons of 1,000-yards rushing. Early in this season, when this team was depleted, no running back, missing pieces on the defensive side of the football, he was willing them to win with his legs, his arm and his heart. Lamar Jackson deserves to be compensated. He deserves to be in that $40-million plus crew with the Dak Prescotts, the Josh Allens, the Patrick Mahomes of the world. I believe that’s what he needs to get to walk on the grass in Baltimore.”
Is a difference of opinion of what Jackson is worth getting in the way of the deal? It almost always comes down to money. It’s hard to say, though, in this case. Jackson doesn’t have an agent and he maintains a very small inner circle. The Ravens are notoriously tight-lipped. Details on the negotiations have been scant from the start.
But DeCosta, who acknowledged last season that the Ravens knew what they were getting into in terms of the price tag for a player of Jackson’s caliber, said he has spoken to Jackson directly about his contract five or six times, so it’s inconceivable that terms haven’t been discussed or traded. It’s not as if the magnitude of this deal is unprecedented either. The roadmap has been traveled.
Mahomes ($45 million per year), Allen ($43 million) and Prescott ($40 million) are all in the $40 million club. At $39 million, Watson is on the outside looking in, but barely. Six other quarterbacks, meanwhile, are making $30 million a year or more.
“If you want an above-average starting quarterback who has potential for more, yeah, you’re going to be in that neighborhood,” Corry said. “If the Ravens aren’t comfortable in paying Lamar that, then you go year-by-year.”
As it is, Jackson is due to make $23 million this season while playing on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal. He’d then be eligible for free agency next year although the Ravens are seemingly far more likely to use the franchise tag rather than let the quarterback hit the open market. The projected cost to franchise a quarterback this offseason is roughly $28 million, but that number could grow next offseason with the potential of a few top quarterbacks, including Rodgers, getting contract extensions over the next few months.
“You could have $50 million quarterbacks on the horizon,” Corry said. “A rising tide lifts all boats.”
Either way, barring a disastrous 2022 campaign, Jackson probably isn’t getting any cheaper for the Ravens to keep and they need only look at how the Cowboys handled the Prescott situation to be reminded of the dangers of waiting too long. Dallas didn’t extend Prescott until after his fifth season and they were forced to pay a bigger premium to do it.
“If they didn’t drag their feet and prioritize (extending) DeMarcus Lawrence, Dak Prescott should have never signed a deal in the 40s,” Corry said. “It should have been in the 30s.”
Jackson’s deal is complicated by other factors. Even the quarterback’s most ardent believers have to have some concern about the way Jackson’s 2021 season spiraled. Through October, he was one of the leading candidates for league MVP. However, even before he sustained the foot injury in Week 14, Jackson was in a major funk. He looked overwhelmed by blitzes and his decision-making and pocket presence suffered. Given the burden he had to shoulder behind a banged-up offensive line and in front of a decimated backfield, Jackson certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt. Still, when you’re talking about doling out the biggest contract in team history, all on-field evidence must be considered.
Then, there’s Jackson’s decision to eschew having an agent, creating the awkward dynamic of the quarterback negotiating the contract with DeCosta. Ravens officials are very protective of Jackson and they haven’t complained about the arrangement. By all accounts, Jackson and DeCosta have a strong relationship, but the situation has spurred a lot of intrigue around the league. DeCosta even acknowledged that the negotiations are “unusual” because Jackson is representing himself.
In negotiations of this magnitude, the stakes are high and the conversations can get heated. But DeCosta surely has to watch what he says in order not to alienate his franchise quarterback.
“The agent is the buffer. It’s like, no hard feelings, this is what you do. Now, you get the player involved directly, where it is business and not personal, but how do you keep that from getting to that point?” Ross said. “There’s so many questions about it, the dynamic of it. I’ve been in that room, where you yell things and (curse) an agent through the whole deal and 10 minutes later, you say, ‘OK, let’s work this out.’ With the player, I just don’t see any way that’s successful.”
Ross admitted he’s empathetic toward DeCosta and the Ravens for the spot that they are in and he’s curious how this will all work out.
“It’s just, what can they do?” Ross said. “How do you force a guy? Does Lamar understand the timeline? Does he understand the implications? Does he understand all the big-picture (stuff) that we just talked about? I don’t know. That’s why it would be frustrating to deal with this. I love Lamar. I loved him coming out. I just want him to get as much as he can.” |
