Devin Duvernay and Justin Madubuike were great, they’re going to need to run the ball better and I really hope Ronnie Stanley can rise from the dead soon.
There you have it, my first official game week column of the 2022 Ravens season. Thanks so much for joining us.
Look, the Ravens’ 24-9 win against the Jets was … not exactly exhilarating. It was workmanlike and certainly included some fun moments and got the necessary result. That last part is the only one that matters, obviously.
The game itself was a bit overshadowed by a weekend’s worth of information regarding the Ravens’ inability to get quarterback Lamar Jackson signed before his self-imposed Sep. 9 deadline to get a deal done or wait until the season is over before negotiating again.
To be clear, this is not a real deadline. If Jackson were to find himself interested in re-engaging conversations during the season, there would be no penalty for doing so. And the sides can of course chat again once the season is over or after the Ravens presumably place the franchise tag on their quarterback or even after the franchise tag contract is locked in during the summer of 2023 (should we get there).
But there’s no reason not to take him at his word. Jackson says he’s not negotiating during the season so he can focus on football. I assume local football fans who tend to think quarterbacks need to be singularly minded are appreciative of this. And considering how he’s handled himself up to this point, there’s absolutely no reason for me to think that this will become some sort of issue for the Ravens during the season.
I still don’t personally understand why Jackson didn’t attempt to force the issue by using the leverage he has as a quarterback with a holdout or “hold in” or by demanding a trade, but that’s his right. And since he didn’t, I have to think he’s OK with continuing to go about his business in pursuit of a Super Bowl win.
So there’s no real story then, right? The Ravens have plenty of time to get this figured out and the team looked very good to start the season with reinforcements coming. All’s good, right?
I’m … just not sure.
I remember writing a column in the middle of the last decade in this very same little piece of the internet about the future of Manny Machado. A prominent MLB reporter had just joined Glenn Clark Radio and when I asked about whether Orioles fans should be concerned about the possibility of Machado ultimately departing, this reporter said (paraphrasing) that Orioles fans should “sit back and enjoy the ride.”
My reaction was that, while the ride could certainly be enjoyed, it was quite natural to and nearly impossible not to be concerned about when the ride might end. That particular ride ended … entirely off the tracks. We had every right to be thinking about that even as we enjoyed the thrills.
The Lamar Jackson ride has been similarly thrilling if not more. And yet … I can’t help but start to wonder.
If the former NFL MVP really is hellbent on getting a fully guaranteed contract like Deshaun Watson’s and the team really is hellbent on not helping to usher in an era of such contracts, where exactly does this go? How in the world does this play out?
This is seminal moment in football history disguised as a contract dispute. The Ravens clearly feel as though they’re fighting for something much larger than their quarterback’s future. Perhaps Jackson (who feels no pressure from an agent looking to get a cut of the contract) feels the same way, as he’s received guidance from the NFL Players Association.
We know that the “fully guaranteed” part of a quarterback’s contract is kind of tongue in cheek. Franchise quarterbacks don’t get cut. The dead space such a cut would create is so devastating that a team is far more likely to give even a struggling quarterback even more money in order to make the circumstances more salary cap friendly. Lamar Jackson doesn’t really NEED a fully guaranteed deal. He’s going to get his money. And the Ravens probably don’t need to balk this much at the possibility of giving their signal caller such a deal. They’re going to give him his money whether it’s guaranteed or not.
But the fight is much bigger. The NFLPA would like all NFL contracts to be fully guaranteed. Not every other position has the leverage the quarterbacks do. NFL veterans at other positions get cut all of the time. They don’t get their money. And if the quarterbacks (who have by far the most leverage) aren’t willing to fight for full guarantees, the defensive tackles have no hope.
I also understand why Steve Bisciotti would balk at the concept. While he knows he’s going to have to pay his quarterback the full value of his deal, he would prefer to keep other players from having the same protections. I can’t tell you I think that’s the “right” way or the proper way of doing business, but I understand that fully guaranteed deals are a significant sea change and I get why owners might not want to so rapidly move into an era of such deals.
So what happens exactly?
That’s the damnedest thing. I … genuinely have no idea. I’d like to hope the parties ultimately find an amicable place of agreement but there appears to be a significant line drawn in the sand. If Jackson believes there are other teams out there that WOULD give him such a deal, he can collect his money for three seasons and then try to hit the market.
If the Ravens are totally unwilling to bend, we kind of have to talk about whether they should think about the possibility of trading Jackson at some point. I want to make it abundantly clear how truly horrendous I think the idea to be but it has to at least be a consideration. It’s easy to say the team should prioritize winning a Super Bowl in the next three seasons if Jackson might simply depart in free agency after 2024. But what if, despite their best efforts, they just don’t win one?
How will we feel if we get to September 2025 and the Ravens not only don’t have Jackson, they also missed out on what reporters believe could have been a treasure trove of draft picks had they been willing to move him?
This is messy!
I’m telling you that I’m capable of enjoying the ride. Toronto Raptors fans had Kawhi Leonard for all of one season. I’m pretty sure they enjoyed the ride!
And admittedly, I think a lot about these things. I’ve considered about a million times when Mrs. Clark might suddenly wake up one day and realize how much better she could have done and what I would do at that point. I’m an overthinker!
But I’m not sure how I’m not supposed to think about the potential long-term ramifications of this situation. The two parties appear unwilling to budge. I CANNOT FEEL COMFORTABLE ABOUT HOW THIS PLAYS OUT!
I’m going to enjoy the football. But I have to admit that I’ll be doing so with a weird feeling in my stomach that might not go away.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox