The Ravens and franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson have agreed in principle on a five-year contract extension, completing a saga that has dragged on for months and affirming Jackson as the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future.
The team announced the deal hours before the NFL Draft was set to begin in Kansas City. According to NFL Network, the deal was for five years and $260 million, with $185 million guaranteed. Jackson boasts the league’s highest annual value at $52 million.
In a video released by the team when it announced the deal, Jackson said, “For the last few months, there’s been a lot of he say, she say,’ a lot of nail-biting, a lot of head-scratching going on. But for the next five years, there’s a lot of Flock going on! Let’s go baby! … Can’t wait to get there, can’t wait to light up M&T for the next five years.”
Speaking after the opening round of the NFL Draft ended, general manager Eric DeCosta acknowledged the emotional toll that the negotiations had taken, with both sides entrenched in an impasse that lasted more than a year.
“Sometimes these things can happen in two weeks, and sometimes it takes two years,” DeCosta said. “This was on that scale. I know that our appreciation and love for Lamar has never really wavered, but it was business as well.”
“Sometimes with families, things can get tough,” DeCosta added. “We all feel that sometimes, when you’re in a fight with your parents, or a sibling or you’re trying to figure something out. … There was definitely some emotion, but in the end, we’ve been blessed to have Lamar as part of this organization for a long time.”
Jackson and the Ravens had been at an impasse for more than a year regarding an extension, with Jackson reportedly looking for a fully guaranteed deal in the neighborhood of the five-year, $230 million deal that the Cleveland Browns gave to Deshaun Watson last year.
The Ravens showed no interest in giving a fully guaranteed deal, and recent deals given to other franchise quarterbacks proved that the Watson contract was a significant outlier. Earlier this month, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Jalen Hurts to a five-year, $255 million deal with $179 million guaranteed, and Jackson’s essentially comes in a tick higher.
“The market is what the market is,” DeCosta said. “John [Harbaugh] says it all the time. But I think the way we fell about Lamar, it’s the market-plus. … We’ve seen Lamar. We’ve won lots of games with Lamar. We’re around him all the time. And we do feel that he’s the best quarterback in the NFL, and I think this contract reflects that.”
With the Ravens and Jackson unable to reach a deal, the Ravens applied the nonexclusive franchise tag to Jackson in March before he could hit free agency. It cost $32 million against the cap, and it allowed other teams to negotiate with Jackson. If any team were to sign Jackson to an offer sheet, the Ravens would have the option to match, but no such offers materialized.
Earlier this month, Jackson, 26, revealed via social media that in early March he had asked the Ravens to trade him, saying that the team “has not been interested in meeting my value.”
Despite the public stance from Jackson, and a couple of other unpredictable twists in this saga — including the NFL publicly cautioning teams not to negotiate with a Jackson business associate named Ken Francis, who was not a certified agent — Harbaugh and DeCosta continued to publicly express optimism a deal would get done.
Jackson’s contract status has been the dominant storyline throughout the NFL offseason, and he has become the face of the Ravens franchise ever since he exploded onto the scene in his second season in 2019. He led the Ravens to a franchise-record 14-2 record and was the league’s unanimous MVP after a season in which he led the league in touchdown passes (36) and set an all-time NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback (1,206).
The top-seeded Ravens, though, were upset by Tennessee in their first playoff game that year and have failed to replicate that success since.
In each of the past two seasons, Jackson missed the final month of the season with injuries. This past year, the Ravens finished 10-7 and earned a wild-card berth to the postseason but lost their opening-round playoff game to the Cincinnati Bengals. Jackson missed the final five games of the regular season plus the playoff game with a knee injury.
The Ravens parted ways with offensive coordinator Greg Roman after the season and have hired Todd Monken in his place. Jackson, the only quarterback in NFL history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, will have the most accomplished receiver in his six seasons in Baltimore with the addition of Beckham, and the Ravens also signed free agent receiver Nelson Agholor as they made rebuilding their receiver room a top offseason priority.
The Ravens also return Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews and their top three running backs, with Jackson’s status the biggest question mark as they try to contend in a ferociously competitive AFC.
With Jackson now back in the fold, the expectation is he will be back on the field soon learning Monken’s system and getting in sync with the new group of receivers, which now also includes first-round pick Zay Flowers from Boston College.
Regardless of whatever else happens in the draft, the Ravens will feel good in their war room that they got their No. 1 priority taken care of before any picks had even been made.
This story was updated with comments from Ravens GM Eric DeCosta.
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