Former NFL executives Joe Banner and Randy Mueller recently joined Glenn Clark Radio to discuss Lamar Jackson’s approach toward a long-term contract, the impact of waiting on a potential deal and what the future may hold for the Ravens and the quarterback.
Banner was the president for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1995-2012 and the CEO of the Cleveland Browns from 2012-2013. Mueller was the general manager of the New Orleans Saints from 2000-2001 and Miami Dolphins from 2005-2007. Prior to that, Mueller was the vice president of football operations for the Seattle Seahawks from 1995-1999.
Jackson has been eligible for an extension since last offseason. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who was taken as part of the same draft class in 2018, signed a six-year extension worth up to $258 million last August. Jackson, who does not have an agent, opted to wait. Was that the correct decision?
Banner: “When players bet on themselves, which is what you’re doing when you don’t take a deal early, you are taking the risk of your health and performance, which could affect your future value. When you wait, if in fact you don’t get hurt and the quality of your play maintains itself, the market automatically increases based on the new deals [of other players] and the increases in the cap. If your primary goal is to maximize your career earnings and you’re willing to take some risks on your own shoulders to do so, the best thing to do is wait. … He played this correctly and he is now going to get a bigger deal than he would have if he had done it sooner. Now, he may still want to wait because that’s really the true way to maximize his value.”
CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported the Ravens prefer deals of five years or longer worth in the neighborhood of $35 million per year. If that is the case, what could that indicate considering recent top quarterback deals have come in well north of that number?
Mueller: “My first reaction is that that number tells me that they may not want to play this style of football going forward, and it has nothing to do with Lamar personally. It’s just that this style is going to take them so far and they’re willing to pay that amount. … How high are they willing to go? How high have they been before? This number of 35, is it a conclusion of a year and a half of negotiating? Because you’re right, we’ve been talking about this forever. I just think it’s a little bit of all the above. It tells me I’m not sure they’re sold, and I’ve said this all along — it’s really a style and a strategy as much as it is valuing Lamar. I don’t know if they think this is the way they can win a Super Bowl. If it’s not, maybe they’re drawing a line in the sand.”
Banner believes Jackson would have signed for between $35 million and $38 million per year had he signed an extension last offseason. Now, he’s in line for a deal between $40 million and $45 million — and possibly even more if he waits another year. Has the time come for Jackson to strike?
Banner: “I would advise him to go do a deal, get this large amount of guaranteed money. If in fact it turns out that the contract needs to be adjusted [at some point], what we’ve learned over the last few years is he’ll have the leverage to get that done. At this point, in my opinion, the benefits of waiting, where there may be at least some increase of the average guarantee, don’t come close to doing a deal now and knowing that no matter what happens, you don’t have to worry about it. And if at a later date you decide that you want to do something about it to try to get yourself an updated deal, let’s call it, you’re in a position where we can see teams are not going to get into wars with their quarterbacks if there’s any way in the world they can possibly avoid it.”
If the Ravens do not present a deal that Jackson finds acceptable, would it make sense for the 2019 NFL MVP to demand a trade? There are presumably several teams that would be interested in Jackson given their current quarterback situations.
Mueller: “Well, I think a trade would maybe make sense financially. I guess the next question is, “Does it make sense football-wise?” We know Lamar plays differently. We know his scheme has to be a little different for his skill set to shine. That seems like a great fit with … Greg Roman. That is what it is. It seems like a fit. I don’t know. I drafted a guy in Seattle, Walter Jones, who played on a franchise tag it seemed like endlessly, year after year after year, and he just kept betting on himself. And don’t forget, that number keeps going up every year. If you put a pencil to it, there is daylight at the end of the tunnel even if you use the franchise tag for multiple years that makes sense to the player, so I don’t know. I think it’s a hard one to solve not knowing exactly the feelings on the Ravens on the inside as to if that’s the style they would prefer to play because they’re not going to find anyone better at this style than Lamar, that’s for sure.”
There has been speculation that Jackson may be willing to play out his fifth-year option and two franchise tags — cashing in more than $100 million in the process — and become an unrestricted free agent after the 2024 season. Would the Ravens essentially be forced to trade Jackson at some point if that scenario played out?
Banner: “The answer is yes. I don’t they’re there for a while and hopefully they don’t get there. But yeah, you don’t want to be a position where you could possibly [lose] a star quarterback — we’ve seen what even good quarterbacks are worth — and have nothing to show for it. But frankly, you really want to avoid that situation. I would never get there unless I was convinced the player’s long-term plan wasn’t just to maximize revenue but to actually leave. … Even more importantly than the compensation is [not ending] up in a situation where we’re waiting so long for him that we end up holding the bag and don’t have a quarterback going forward that gives us a chance to compete, especially with this conference now. For a decade, you better have a star quarterback or you can give up talk about going to a Super Bowl.”
Mueller: “They know what they have with Lamar. They don’t want to take a step back. They’ve got to get better than Lamar in order to trade him, and if not, they’re willing to ride it out. Don’t forget, we talked about Dak Prescott for what seemed like five years as well, trying to sign his deal, so there is some precedent there of a team caving in and giving [a quarterback] what they want. … I have not seen any real options yet, whether drafting or free agency or anything like that. I think it’s a marriage that is going to happen at some point. They’ve just dated a couple years longer than most of us thought before they got married.”
For more from Banner, listen to the full interview here:
For more from Mueller, listen to the full interview here:
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