Latest: Lamar Jackson Will Reportedly Wait Until After 2022 to Negotiate Deal
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OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have seemingly not engaged in any meaningful contract talks in recent weeks.
Those negotiations will be put on hold until after the season, according to a report by ProFootballTalk.
"Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Jackson has told the Ravens that he’s currently too focused on having his best possible year and that he doesn’t want to do a deal until the 2022 season is over," PFT's Mike Florio wrote.
This could play into the Ravens' advantage now that the franchise tag is linked to the salary cap.
Jackson will play this season under a fifth-year option that pays him just over $23 million. If the Ravens and Jackson cannot reach a deal after the season, the team can use the franchise tag on him, which could be economically beneficial.
"That’s where it’s heading. Fifth-year option in 2022. Franchise tag in 2023," Florio wrote. "If the salary cap increases by, say, 15 percent this year, the franchise tag for quarterbacks will be in the range of $34 million in 2023.
"If so, he’d get $40.8 million in 2024. Combine that with the $23 million he’ll make this year, and that’s a three-year payout of $97.8 million. Given the current quarterback market, that’s not a bad deal for Baltimore."
The key for Lamar Jackson is to have a bounce-back year.
Jackson dealt with an illness that forced him to miss the game against the Chicago Bears. Jackson missed the final four weeks of the season with a bone bruise in his ankle that he suffered against the Cleveland Browns.
On the year, Jackson threw for 2,882 yards with 16 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also ran for 767 yards with two scores and six fumbles.
Jackon is now carrying most of the risk with the unresolved contract.
"By not engaging the Ravens on talks aimed at signing him to a long-term deal, he carries the full range of risks arising from all potential injuries, acute and chronic, that could keep him from being regarded come 2025 as someone who should get market-value money," Florio wrote.
Either way, the two sides have to eventually decide on their long-term future.
The uncertainty with Jackson is a growing distraction.
"What if the Ravens decide at some point to move on?" Florio asked "That they need certainty at the most important position in the game? That there’s some other team that would perhaps try to trade for him, sooner or later or somewhere in between?
It’s uncertain how the Ravens will handle the situation because it’s truly unprecedented.
