Joel Corry: Fully Guaranteed Contract Could Be ‘Sticking Point’ In Lamar Jackson Talks

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is set to make about $23 million guaranteed in 2022 by playing out the fifth-year option of his rookie deal. That is less than veteran quarterbacks Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff, Jimmy Garoppolo, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan will make in 2022.

In 2019, Jackson was named NFL MVP, an honor only six other active players have earned. Even so, Jackson has yet to sign a contract extension, despite seeing numerous quarterbacks receive lucrative extensions this offseason.

“Lamar Jackson’s patience has paid off,” former agent and current CBS Sports NFL writer Joel Corry said on Glenn Clark Radio June 20. “… You had three $40 million quarterbacks heading into the offseason. Now you have seven, and you’ve had one real game-changing event, Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed contract.”

As Corry mentioned, four quarterbacks signed major contract extensions: Watson, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers and Derek Carr.

In August 2021, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen signed a six-year, $258 million extension with $150 million guaranteed. Allen, set to be one the highest earners at the position in 2022, is the only first-round quarterback from the 2018 draft other than Jackson still with the team that drafted him. Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold both find themselves in Carolina, while Josh Rosen sits in free agency.

So why is it that Jackson, the 6-foot-2, 212-pound, two-time Pro Bowler, hasn’t received an extension like Allen? One key reason is the fact that Jackson does not have an agent. Another key factor is the quarterback market. Only four starting quarterbacks have fully guaranteed contracts: Watson, Rodgers, Cousins and Tom Brady.

Cousins and Brady both signed one-year extensions, meaning Watson and Rodgers are the lone quarterbacks in the league to have recently signed fully-guaranteed multi-year extensions.

“If he wants a fully guaranteed contract, I could see that being the sticking point where the Ravens may not want to guarantee a similar amount of money or more to Lamar Jackson, even though he could say, ‘You know what? I won an MVP. Deshaun hasn’t. I have no baggage. I’m pretty clean off the field, so I deserve more,'” Corry said. “Teams are going to resist like tooth and nail to have this fully guaranteed contract thing become more than just an anomaly.”

As such, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti has to decide how much he is willing to pay for one of the best young quarterbacks in the game. Bisciotti and GM Eric DeCosta must find a middle ground with Jackson on a multitude of factors: length of contract, amount of total money and amount of guaranteed money, just to name a few.

“It takes two to tango,” Corry said. “… Sometimes an offer gives you no decision, so you don’t have anything to think about. If they’re not willing to go fully guaranteed contract and he’s dead set on that, he’s playing this year out and then you start the [franchise] tag game. If he has some flexibility … there should be a deal that’s done.”

The key to an extension is flexibility from both parties. Otherwise, Jackson will be forced to play the 2022 season on his fifth-year option, with the franchise tag as an option following this season. Despite all the questions surrounding Jackson’s future in Baltimore, the belief remains that Jackson and the Ravens eventually agree to an extension to keep him locked up in Charm City for the foreseeable future.

“I don’t see a universe where Lamar Jackson isn’t playing for the Ravens,” NFL.com senior columnist Jeffri Chadiha said on Glenn Clark Radio June 21. “… They are married at the hip, merged together at the hip, and the Ravens have gone all in with him as their quarterback. He loves being in Baltimore and he’s built a legacy there, won an MVP there, so I think it’s hard for him to go someplace else and find the same kind of patience.”

“When it comes to quarterback negotiations,” Chadiha added, “it’s super unlikely that a franchise quarterback walks away.”