The Baltimore Ravens will be paying superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson in the near future. And they won’t just be paying him, they’ll be figuratively showering him in money.
Jackson is one of the most notable NFL players in need of a new contract in the not-too-distant future. When the extension will ultimately happen remains a topic of debate.
But it seems as though the potential price tag has a little more consensus.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported on Wednesday that “it wouldn’t surprise people around the league if” Jackson was awarded a contract giving him upwards of $40-45 million per year.
Those figures were determined by comparing his potential contract to those of Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes. Prescott’s deal currently sees him make roughly $40 million per season while Mahomes is around $45 million.
Jackson’s contract is expected to fall somewhere in between those two numbers.
The Ravens will have to pay a pretty penny for Lamar Jackson.
Graziano also compared Jackson’s impending extension with those of Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield, as many have. All three quarterbacks selected in the 2018 NFL Draft are in need of new contracts.
There’s been a bit of a stand-off to see which deal gets done first. But Graziano did note that many around the league believe Jackson’s extension will be the largest.
After all, Jackson is the only one of the three to have previously won an MVP. That promises to be an excellent negotiating tool.
Graziano also noted that people around the league also believe that Jackson will be the first to receive his extension. Depending on who you ask, that could come as a surprise.
Some believe that Jackson and the Ravens would be better off waiting for either Allen or Mayfield to get extended so they could use their contract as a basis for Jackson’s deal.
Of course, the primary rationale behind this is Jackson’s lack of an agent. The Ravens don’t want to come across as if they took advantage of their franchise quarterback.
Lamar Jackson is going to get paid. It might not be this week or the next, but eventually, the Ravens will have to surrender a large sum of money to keep their star quarterback in town for the foreseeable future.
That’s just what happens though when you have a superstar under center. It’s a good problem to have.