Lamar Jackson rumors: Disparity with Ravens over money could speed up trade

Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are supposedly miles apart on a long-term extension.

Let’s just say things have been better between Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.

With five seasons in the books, the Ravens have one playoff victory to show for trading up to take the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner with the last pick of the first round in the 2018 NFL Draft. Jackson did win NFL MVP in his first full season as a starter in 2019, but playoff success and being able to play 17 games have evaded him. Of course, he played just out his fifth-year option season.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Jackson and the Ravens’ brass could be as far apart as $100 million on a new contract. He mentioned trade calls are starting to flood the Baltimore phone lines.

While the Ravens will likely use the exclusive franchise tag on Jackson, he could be traded soon.

Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens could be as far apart as $100 million

You can understand both sides of the equation here. From Jackson’s perspective, he has done enough on the field to merit a contract somewhere in the range of what Deshaun Watson got after he was traded over to the Cleveland Browns. He has done more in five years than Watson has done in six. Moreover, Jackson did not ruin his reputation off the field like Watson…

From Baltimore’s perspective, the Ravens are too well-run of an organization to make the same mistakes their division rival did. Keep in mind that Baltimore has built its culture around defense and a running game. They have won two Super Bowls in their history with quarterbacks far less talented than Jackson in Trent Dilfer and Joe Flacco. They let Dilfer walk immediately after 2000.

Again, this could all have been cleared up and not been anywhere near as ugly if Jackson had any representation. While it worked out in his favor to let the CBA do the heavy-lifting for him during his first five years in the league, he has entered the fray of the franchise tag. Does he want to play on the tag for two years like Kirk Cousins did in Washington? Then again, he did play out his option.

Overall, Jackson should have every reason to command fair market value for his services. Baltimore may be willing to do that, but the guaranteed portion and the length of the contract could be massive issues within the organization. Given the way in which Jackson plays, who knows if his dual-threat playmaking abilities will age gracefully into his 30s? Just look at Russell Wilson…

Truth be told, Jackson just needs to sign the exclusive franchise tag. This will afford him the higher of the two between the average annual value of the top five quarterback contracts in the league in 2023 or 120 percent above his previous salary. More importantly, signing the exclusive franchise tag will allow the Ravens to work with Jackson to potentially negotiate a trade much more easily.

Frankly, a long-term contract might be the only thing that will be keeping Jackson in Baltimore.