Are the Colts Pursuing Lamar Jackson?

With the star quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens demanding a trade, the Indianapolis Colts have been a popular pick for Lamar Jackson's next destination.

Monday morning, just moments before Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh spoke with media in Arizona at this year's Owners Meeting, Lamar Jackson took his offseason into his own hands, announcing via Twitter that he requested a trade from the Ravens earlier this month.

Earlier this offseason, the Ravens elected to give Jackson the non-exclusive franchise tag, which allows teams to negotiate a deal with the QB that the Ravens could then match. If they do not match the contract, the team who lands Jackson would send two first-round picks in consecutive years via the timeline of when the contract was agreed to. Two first-round picks may sound like a steep price, but the value is impeccable compared to other star QBs who have been traded in recent memory. 

So you’d think it would be a no-brainer for teams to pursue the former MVP, but even more so for a team like the Indianapolis Colts, who have been in QB purgatory ever since the sudden retirement of franchise QB Andrew Luck. So the question now is will the Colts pursue Lamar Jackson?

The Argument for Acquiring Jackson

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As mentioned earlier, the price of two first-round picks for a franchise QB isn't as much as it seems. Take the past two offseasons, for example. In 2021, Matthew Stafford was traded from the Detroit Lions to the Los Angeles Rams for QB Jared Goff, a 2021 third-round pick, a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2023 first-round pick. The following year, QB Russell Wilson and a 2022 fourth-rounder were traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Denver Broncos for TE Noah Fant, DE Shelby Harris, QB Drew Lock, 2022 first, second, and fifth-round picks, and 2023 first and second-round picks. 

Both packages were larger than the two firsts required to land Jackson. And, at the time of the deals, Stafford and Wilson were 33 years old. Jackson is only 26.

In the four seasons since the retirement of Luck, the Colts have had four different starting QBs (Jacoby Brissett, Phillip Rivers, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan) and are preparing for a fifth, no matter if the starter is Gardner Minshew, a rookie, or a veteran they acquire. Many against acquiring Jackson use this QB carousel as the reason for the team to simply draft their own guy. While drafting their own is the typical approach, a 26-year-old former MVP QB rarely becomes available in the NFL. 

In a conference filled with young star QBs such as Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, and Trevor Lawerence, the need to hit on the next QB is pivotal for the Colts. So now the options are to draft a rookie to groom and grow to the level of the names mentioned or sign Jackson to an offer sheet that the Ravens can't/won't match, acquiring the 26-year-old QB. If you were in charge, would you bet your job on competing in the star-studded AFC with one of the rookies in this class or Jackson? 

The Argument Against Acquiring Jackson

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The Colts' search for their next franchise QB has only been four seasons; to fans, it has felt like an eternity. They've watched their team sign, trade, and even promote veteran QBs to attempt to “band-aid” their way through the most important position in sports. After all the failed attempts prior, should they add going after a non-exclusive tag QB to their acquiring a QB bingo card?

They've pushed off the inevitable for far too long and now find themselves at the No.4 pick in a draft many believe is a four QB draft (C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, Will Levis). It may be time to draft and groom your own QB, similar to the Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers, and Jacksonville Jaguars. Having a QB on a rookie contract and using the extra money to fill out a roster with multiple holes more efficiently does make sense, especially with the financial side being the reason Jackson seems to be available. 

Colts owner Jim Irsay touched on the financial side of things and guaranteed contracts when he met with media late Monday night in Arizona at the NFL Owners Meetings.

Irsay didn't mince words on the conversation of fully-guaranteed contracts. This has been a highly debated subject ever since the Cleveland Browns decided to make the controversial decision of giving QB Deshaun Watson a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract last offseason after trading for the QB. With the Ravens not being willing to give Jackson the amount of guarantees he covets, should we assume Irsay and the Colts would give him enough guarantees to keep the Ravens from simply matching and keeping the QB for themselves? 

Are the Colts Pursuing Jackson?

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Unlike a good portion of the league, the Colts have not announced that they will not pursue Jackson. Actually, head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard shared why they wouldn't be doing their jobs properly if they didn't do the work and research around the possibility of acquiring a “special player” like Jackson.

All the Jackson talk brings me back to something I was told last week, which was a tip from a very reliable source that a Colts’ plane landed in Baltimore and spent an extended time there prior to the Owners Meetings this week. Could part of the work Ballard mentioned be the reason the plane was there and proof that the team is seriously considering the option of acquiring Jackson? Or was the plane there for routine maintenance or a random guitar auction for the owners' collection?

Only time will tell if it meant anything at all. My personal belief on the subject remains that I would be shocked if the Colts were the team to give Jackson an offer sheet large enough with guarantees that the Ravens would not match the deal and keep the QB themselves. Still, I would be lying if the last few days didn't raise my eyebrows to that information, and when myself and others on our team here at Horseshoe Huddle pushed for details on why the plane was there, we were given a swift “no comment” answer.

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