More details have come to light regarding the contract Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson turned down prior to the 2022 season, begging the question: What does Jackson want?
Jackson and the Ravens have engaged in contract talks for roughly two years now, and the star quarterback is set to hit free agency this spring if no agreement is reached.
The Ravens will more than likely place a franchise tag on Jackson if it comes to that, buying themselves more time to extend their quarterback of the future. Back in September, it was revealed that Jackson rejected a contract with $133 million in guaranteed money.
This isn’t new information, but NFL analyst Ryan Clark started discussing Jackson’s guaranteed money on First Take and delved deeper into the question of exactly how much Jackson was looking for in his next extension.
The benchmark, unfortunately, continues to be the historic deal Deshaun Watson got from the Browns which consisted of $230 million fully guaranteed money.
Report: The #Ravens offered QB Lamar Jackson $113 million in guarantees initially before eventually raising it to $133 million, a source told @Realrclark25
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 22, 2023
For comparison, one of the last big money deals a QB signed is #Browns Deshaun Watson, with $230 million fully guaranteed. pic.twitter.com/dsxVSKrAu3
Lamar Jackson and Ravens are still trudging through contract talks in 2023
It’s worth noting that everything that comes out in the media is based on speculation or, at most, what the Ravens’ franchise is feeling.
Lamar Jackson remains his own agent in these negotiations and has almost never tweeted about his contract details. Once last August, he tweeted back at somebody saying he did not, in fact, receive an offer with $250 million guaranteed money. And that was the end of that.
Based on the known report of Jackson’s rejected contract, it would appear as though the quarterback is gunning for a deal on par with Watson’s, yet no one knows for sure.
What we do have are facts: there are currently six quarterbacks in the league who make more than $133 million in guaranteed money.
After successfully re-signing Roquan Smith, Baltimore have every tool at their disposal to retain Jackson.
In an end-of-season press conference last week, head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta refused to entertain trade rumors and insisted that Jackson was their franchise quarterback.
Rumors will continue to swirl this offseason, but those facts remain the same.