Lamar Jackson Sought A Trade Before Signing His Last Contract. Some Execs Believe History Could Repeat

Lamat Jackson had to demand a trade – and then endure what credibly appears to be collusion from other owners on a non-exclusive franchise tag – to eventually, finally, get a long-term deal from the Ravens three year ago.

Might he opt to go that route again, whether as negotiating ploy or otherwise?

Jackson famously negotiated a record contract without representation throughout his long ordeal with Baltimore despite putting up MVP numbers, and he continues to operate as his own agent. And, after the Ravens once again fell a year-plus further behind the ever-soaring quarterback market in extending the superstar (the Bills and Josh Allen once again smoothly agreed to an extension last year), there isn’t an agent or general manager or contract negotiator in the NFL who doesn’t believe the quarterback has more leverage now than ever before.

The Ravens executed the maximum restructuring they could at the start of the league year – putting even more money in Jackson’s deal up front rather than spread out over the full season. Jackson now has a no-trade and no-tag clause in the deal, and Baltimore suffered an exodus of talent in free agency and now has an unproven head coach and offensive coordinator.

After handling this entire saga with savvy and aplomb to this point, Jackson probably doesn’t need a whole lot of advice. But the league is watching this situation quite closely for obvious reasons – any reset to the top of the QB market has massive leaguewide implications. The Ravens appear to be in an incredibly vulnerable spot with OTAs looming and them trying to implement a new offensive scheme with a 30-year-old rookie play-caller and a suspect offensive roster on paper.

Jackson Doesn't Have An Agent, But What If He Did?

Everything that has occurred this offseason (especially the contract restructuring) has only bolstered Jackson’s position, including what is now an utterly preposterous 2027 cap number. A trade request was a hammer he felt he had to wield to get almost everything he wanted last time around (except for a 100% fully-guaranteed, five-year deal). That hammer looks more like an anvil, now.

“A trade demand would absolutely be on the table if I was advising Lamar,” said one highly-successful NFL agent who has negotiated many top-of-market contracts including for quarterbacks. “I’m not coming in with it, but I’m coming in with a very firm hand and I’m not putting up with any of their bullshit. And if it’s not done before training camp, we’re done talking.

“It’s pretty simple – and Lamar did a great job with this before, although the right agent could have earned that 1.5% (commission) and got it done sooner. You are giving us a significant increase on the (Dak) Prescott deal. That’s not even a discussion. We are asking for 100% guarantees, again, and not wavering … And, yes, we are absolutely willing to play that trade demand card.”

Another agent with similar qualifications said: “Their owner said he wanted a new deal done before free agency, right, and instead they did the max conversion. The way I read that, that puts tremendous heat on Eric and (team president) Sashi (Brown).

“Kicking the can only gives Lamar more power … Lamar has them by the balls. If he doesn’t get what he wants now, he almost has to get it by March (given the $90M cap hit), or they will have to trade him. That’s where this is heading. It’s one of those two outcomes.”

Whether it was done with intent or not, the fact the Ravens did the maximum conversation of his contract caught a lot of attention around the league. This late in free agency, and with Baltimore never spending big there anyway, and with plenty of other contracts still available to tweak to create even more space, that roughly $40M in cap space created looked like an abundance to outside observers, especially with available savings from other candidates like Marlon Humphrey and his outsized $19.25M in cash currently due him.

Shoud Ravens Prepare For The Worst?

One general manager said: “I don’t know if they did it by design, and I don’t know their intent, but when I looked at the restructure the first thing I thought was, ‘They could move him tomorrow if they had to.’ They didn’t have to convert the full $50M and take him down to the vet min ($1.3M base salary). If he says he wants out, the contract wouldn’t hold them back. They’re prepared for it.”

One long-time NFL contract negotiator said: “Of course executing the full conversion makes the contract easier to trade … If I was negotiating the deal, it wouldn’t surprise me if he asked for a trade again. From a team perspective, you are very aware of that. If this isn’t put to bed before Week 1, you could reasonably assume he’d go public with that again to try to get what he believes he is worth.”

Organized Team Activities begin in 10 days, and Jackson’s presence at each session, or absence, will be a national story for all 11 afternoons prior to their mandatory mini camp a month from now. We’ve seen him express a desire to be elsewhere – whether dubbed sincere or a means to an end. Jackson has also left $750,000 in offseason bonuses on the table to partake in other pursuits while teammates participated in voluntary quasi-practices.

It’s baffling this isn’t already done. Give him what he wants now, because it’s never cheaper later. It just gets riskier.

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