Where will Ravens QB Lamar Jackson end up in 2023? Odds say New York

No one knows for sure where Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will end up in 2023, but oddsmakers think it’ll be somewhere else on the east coast.

Jackson’s contract situation continues to fuel endless speculation as the star quarterback weighs his future this offseason. For the second straight year, Jackson missed the final stretch of the Ravens’ season due to injury, and his extended absence has many believing that something is up in Baltimore.

Jackson didn’t play in the Wild Card game due to his PCL sprain, and he didn’t travel with the team to Cincinnati due to illness. Both are perfectly acceptable reasons. Yet head coach John Harbaugh has continually stayed mum on the topic, declining to provide any real clarity on Jackson’s injury situation or future with the franchise.

For now, pundits can only dissect trivial pieces of information — Jackson’s latest social media posts, an insider’s exclusive scoop, a Ravens’ player’s offhand comment, and so on — to predict whether Jackson will stay or go.

Vegas, however, seems to believe Jackson will pack his bags and fly to New York.

His next team odds list the New York Jets as the betting favorites to land Jackson, followed by the New Orleans Saints.

The Ravens come in at third on the list with +500 odds.

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson’s top destinations in 2023 are New York and NOLA

The fact that the Saints are on the list should tell you to take these odds with a heaping of salt. New Orleans doesn’t have any first-round picks in 2023, not to mention their hellish cap space situation which probably couldn’t fit Jackson’s desired top-dollar contract.

The Jets, on the other hand, pose as a much more feasible option given their draft capital and financial outlook, and the team has reportedly been monitoring a potential Jackson trade should there be a huge fallout.

Jason McCourty recently went on Good Morning Football saying that the Jets should absolutely be all-in on Jackson this offseason, though that comes with an important asterisk: if Jackson becomes available.

As of now, the Ravens have several options at their disposal to retain their star quarterback.

The most cut-and-dried route is if both sides agree to a long-term extension; the deadline to do so is March 7, the final day of the 15-day window to apply the franchise tag to a pending free agent.

After that, the Ravens would either have to use the exclusive franchise tag, which comes at a price tag of $45 million, or non-exclusive tag, which allows other teams to negotiate with Jackson.

Baltimore could also tag and trade Jackson, which is how Jackson could presumably end up in New York.

All of this speculation is just that — speculation. No one knows about Jackson’s situation more than Jackson himself, and until he comes out with a definitive answer to his future, pundits and oddsmakers alike will continue fanning the flames of this red-hot contract saga.

We fully recognize the irony here, but don’t believe everything you read.