Latest Quarterback Contracts Could Further Benefit Lamar Jackson
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Contracts for NFL quarterbacks continue to soar and this has to please Lamar Jackson, whose price tag also keeps rising for the Ravens.
Aaron Rodgers was able to reach a deal worth $50 million per season and nearly $102 million fully guaranteed over the next two years with the Green Bay Packers.
Kirk Cousins inked a deal worth $70 million fully guaranteed over two years with the Minnesota Vikings.
Matthew Stafford's new $160 million extension with the Los Angeles Rams further set the market.
Finally, Deshaun Watson was able to land a contract worth $230 million over five years with the Cleveland Browns despite ongoing legal problems and not having played a down last season.
"The biggest winner in all of this is Lamar Jackson," writes NFL Insider Jason La Canfora. "As we've been reporting for weeks, Jackson, who just turned 25, had been focused on the three-year, fully guaranteed $83M deal Cousins signed back in 2018 as a template for his new deal. Any leverage the Ravens may have thought they had – and it wasn't much pre-Watson trade – is destroyed, now."
Jackson, the 2019 MVP, will make $23.02 million playing under his fifth-year option this season. That means he will make $1.28 million per week, which is almost the equivalent of his entire 2021 salary. Jackson also made $9.8 million in bonus money over his four-year career and he will surpass that number by Week 8, according to stats by CBS.
If the Ravens cannot reach a long-term deal with Jackson, they could place the franchise tag on him in 2023, which will pay him about $43.5 million per season. A second tag would require the team to give him a 120% raise, which would reportedly boost his salary to $52.2 million.
That equates to $118.7 million over three years.
Jackson now could be looking for a deal worth about $50 million per season for an extension.
The Ravens have a tough decision to make with his future.
"If Watson got this from a team he's never played a down for, the Ravens best be ready to pay Jackson $50M a year," La Canfora writes. "Or trade him. If he plays out two franchise tags – which, again, I continue to hear is something he ain't afraid of – then they face potentially losing him for a 2026 comp pick. Yikes. Jackson's silence speaks volumes. The Ravens either keep throwing money at him until he says yes, or they'd best be considering alternative plans at QB. 'I wouldn't want to be in (Ravens GM Eric) DeCosta's shoes right now," one NFL executive said. 'Forget about getting him for $40M a year now, or close to it.' "
The saga continues.
