Lamar Jackson Sends Clear Message to Ravens on Isaiah Likely

The Baltimore Ravens are facing some tough decisions with 24 players set to become free agents next month.

There are many key players the Ravens would like to lock up with contracts, including center Tyler Linderbaum. If Baltimore is focused on social media, they might have realized that their star quarterback, Lamar Jackson, has another player they should consider bringing back in 2026.

Bleacher Report Gridiron's X account posted an image of Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely with the post reading "Isaiah Likely will be a _____" with Jackson replying to the post.

"@Ravens 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾💜"

Lamar Jackson wants Isaiah Likely back in Baltimore

The 2025 season was a forgettable one for Likely, who had the worst statistical season of his career with 27 receptions for 307 yards and one touchdown. This was on the heels of a 2024 season that was his best year with 477 yards and six touchdowns.

Likely is expected to be one of the top tight ends in free agents and will be getting a ton of attention from multiple teams, including the New York Giants, with former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh there. According to Spotrac, Likely is looking at a new contract valued at roughly $8.8 million per year.

Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Baltimore's offense has worked well with a two-tight end system, as Mark Andrews and Likely have been a good one-two punch over the last few years. The Ravens also won't have third string tight end Charlie Kolar there as he is also scheduled to be a free agent.

Jackson first needs to help the Ravens out with a new contract extension that would relieve them of the $74.5 million cap hit they are about to take. If a new deal doesn't get done, Baltimore could trigger a forced restructure that could lead to worse problems for the team.

The hope is that once the Ravens get Jackson's contract settled and create some cap space, they can focus on getting Linderbaum's new deal done before he is a free agent. Then they can focus on other free agents like Likely.

Baltimore took care of Andrews with his new contract extension late in the season with a three-year, $39.3 million deal. With Andrews getting over $13 million per year, it will be more interesting to see whether the Ravens want to give Likely a deal close to the $9 million per year mark.

The Ravens have typically made sure to take care of their own players first before looking at outside help, so the hope is they will get something done with Likely and give Jackson his wish.

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