Ravens Moving at Lamar Jackson's 'Pace' With Contract Talks

Ravens general manager Eric Decosta has met with Lamar Jackson several times over the past year to discuss a new deal, but the sides have yet to reach an agreement.

So far, that's just fine with DeCosta, who is prepared to work with Jackson's schedule.

Jackson does not have a formal agent, so DeCosta has met with him directly.

"Well, the first thing I would say is this is an unusual negotiation, because I’ve been dealing with a player, and I would never divulge a conversation with a player," DeCosta said. "So, for me to talk about it in specifics would be prohibitive. What I can say is that Lamar [Jackson] and I have had, probably, I don’t know, five or six conversations at different points over the last year in regard to his contract. We picked up his option, as you know.

"I think, at this point, I would say that we’re working at Lamar’s pace. He’s comfortable where we are right now."

The Ravens already exercised Jackson's fifth-year option that will pay him $23.02 million this season.

The goal now is to lock him up long-term.

Jackson, who won NFL MVP in 2019, played just 12 games last season because of an illness against the Bears and an ankle injury he suffered against the Browns. He threw for 2,882 yards with 16 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

"I think he feels that we have a lot of unfinished business [and] he has a lot of unfinished business," DeCosta said. "He wants to win the division. He wants to win the Super Bowl. I think he and I both share that same vision. So, that’s basically where we stand. There’s a great line of communication. I know that Lamar knows he can come up to see me at any point. He can call me at any point; we actually talked this week. He can text me at any point. We will operate based on his urgency.

"So, that’s basically where we stand. I think, right now, we want to see Lamar get healthy. We have a lot of different things we need to work on as a team. The offense is a big part of that, but there are a lot of other things we have to focus on as well.”