On the surface, 28 or 29 other NFL teams would kill to be in the Baltimore Ravens' position. There are hardly enough viable starting QBs to go around these days, and the Ravens have a two-time MVP still smack in his prime in Lamar Jackson.
And yet, with Baltimore on the verge of another lost season at 7-8 — another season falling well short of an elusive Super Bowl title, and another season in which Jackson ends the year dogged by injury — it appears that frustration is starting to bowl over. A recent report from the Baltimore Sun suggests that the front office and head coach John Harbaugh have grown tired of managing Jackson, who operates under a different set of rules from the rest of the team.
Rather than pay Jackson the extension he's due this coming offseason, could Baltimore instead decide to move on? It's not as crazy as you think — and the draft could be the perfect way to do it.
Why Ravens should consider drafting a QB, whether a Lamar Jackson trade is coming or not
To be clear, I'd still put the odds of Jackson playing for a different organization any time soon at something close to zero. He's simply too good, and it's too hard to find a franchise quarterback in this day and age. At this point, though, it's at least worth it for the Ravens to have the conversation.
For starters, Jackson's health has made it hard to rely on him — and has raised real questions about how his game might age. He's an excellent passer from the pocket, but what makes him transcendent is his scrambling ability, and this season has shown us how his value proposition changes when that's no longer the case. Is Baltimore tired of working around a Jackson injury every December or January? And do they want to lock themselves into several more years at something north of $60 million per, all for a player who might not produce in the same way as he enters his 30s and loses a step?
And that's before we even get to broader questions of roster construction. Recent NFL history tells us just how hard it is to build a Super Bowl roster with a quarterback making top-of-the-market money. The Ravens are about to lock themselves into a monster cap hit each year with another Jackson extension; could they instead decide to reroute that money (and the monster draft capital that trading Jackson would return) toward holes at edge rusher, receiver and elsewhere?
If the answer is yes, they'd likely pivot to the draft as a way to find a cost-controlled replacement for Jackson. And this class, while not scintillating on paper, offers several routes forward.
Early-round option: QB Dante Moore, Oregon
Even given the cost of a new deal and all the question marks laid out above, there are plenty of teams who would give up multiple firsts to bring Jackson in; QBs that talented just don't come available very often. That would give the Ravens enough of a war chest to move around the draft board as they see fit — certainly enough to move up from No. 13, where they currently sit, to the top five.
Leapfrogging the Jets or Browns for Fernando Mendoza, should the Giants or Raiders move off of the No. 1 overall pick, is a long shot. But why not put yourself in the best position to take the No. 2 option on the board in Oregon's Dante Moore? A former all-world recruit who began his college career at UCLA, he's got loads of arm talent, some decent maneuverability in the pocket and plenty of poise in big moments. Baltimore would have to rework its offense around Moore's style, but maybe that's not the worst thing in the world.
Mid-round option: QB Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
Of course, if the Ravens decide to use their first-round pick(s) elsewhere, or if they decide to hold onto Jackson for now while drafting a potential replacement for a couple years down the road, they can wait until the middle rounds to draft a QB.
Few draft prospects had a more disappointing season than Nussmeier, whose numbers dipped across the board before he got functionally benched once LSU's season had fully gone off the rails. But it was just 12 months or so ago he was being talked about as a potential QB1, a big frame with an even bigger arm who could make every NFL throw. Is he really a different player now? Or was his bad 2025 more easily explained by a general dysfunction in Baton Rouge and a nagging core injury? If it's the latter, Baltimore could be getting one of the best pure passers in the class for pennies on the dollar.
Late-round option: QB Jalon Daniels, Kansas
Daniels has his warts; there's a reason he's listed as a late-round option rather than a Day 1 guy. He puts the ball in harm's way far too often, with 19 picks over the last two seasons.
But man, when you catch him on the right day, Daniels sure looks like a first-round talent. He's not Jackson with his legs, but he's a very good athlete in his own right and a true dual threat. And he's got arm strength to spare, with the requisite tools to play from the pocket in the NFL. If you can iron out the kinks, you might have a legit starter on your hands, and Todd Monken would seem to be just the coach to get it out of him.