Weak QB Market Means Ravens Need to Handle Jackson, Huntley Carefully
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It's a weak market for quarterbacks in the NFL.
As a result, teams are willing to pay a high price for top-tier talent.
The Broncos just traded their 2022 first-round pick (No. 9 overall), 2023 first-round pick, 2022 second-round selection, another second-rounder in 2023, and a 2022 fifth-round selection to acquire Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson.
Green Bay just re-signed 39-year-old Aaron Rodgers to a staggering four-year, $200 million extension.
Quarterbacks are able to secure these types of deals because there just aren't that many playmakers available this year in free agency and the draft.
This also stresses the importance for the Ravens to reach a long-term deal with Jackson. And if they can't come to terms with a new contract before next season, they could possibly tag and trade him to get back a king's ransom.
Jackson, the 2019 NFL 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.
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 an estimated $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 an estimated $52.2 million.
That equates to $118.7M over three years.
The Ravens might decide to take this route because these short-term, expensive deals won't impact the team in the long term.
If Jackson stays healthy, continues to progress as a passer, and goes deeper into the playoffs, his value will skyrocket. But if gets injured or regresses, Jackson could cost himself millions of dollars over the long term.
These are hypothetical scenarios, but they have to be considered.
Either way, the Ravens need to make a decision with Jackson and his future with the franchise.
“I hope so, at some point, that we will," Ravens GM Eric DeCosta replied when asked about finalizing a deal. "I think we’ve discussed this at length, and I said this before: We will work at Lamar’s [Jackson] urgency. So, he and I have had ongoing discussions. We’ve talked fairly recently, as well. He knows how to find me; I know how to find him. I was very happy to see him working out on the west coast recently with some of our guys.
"That’s exciting [and] something that we really think will help us this year be the very best team that we can be. He’s a guy that when we think about the Ravens three, four, five years from now, we envision Lamar being a very, very big part of that team and definitely a player that can help us win Super Bowls.”
Huntley's Value
Another interesting scenario to watch is the future of Jackson's main backup, Tyler Huntley.
Huntley played fairly well when Jackson was sidelined and the Ravens implied to keep him around. Huntley will make $780,000 next season and then be eligible for free agency in 2023.
However, teams might be interested in acquiring Huntley because the market is so starved for quarterbacks. If a team offers a second or third-round pick, the Ravens would have to listen. Baltimore could keep Josh Johnson as a stopgap backup before settling on a longer-term solution.
It's unlikely Huntley will be traded before training camp. However, if a team loses a starter to injury, the Ravens might get an offer they can't refuse.
