The Baltimore Ravens have been busy this offseason. They extended a couple of their stars–running back Derrick Henry in May and wide receiver Rashod Bateman on Thursday. Now, it sounds like a Lamar Jackson extension is in the works.
Mike Bordick and Jerry Coleman had general manager Eric DeCosta on the BMore Baseball Podcast on Wednesday, and DeCosta revealed some details regarding extension talks with the two-time MVP.
“We’ve had some conversations before the draft, after the draft, in person last week,” DeCosta said. “We’re in the introductory stage of looking at what an extension might look like.”
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have plenty of contract talks ahead
A couple of years ago, Jackson signed a lucrative contract to keep him in Baltimore through 2027. It was a drawn-out process, but when the $260 million extension was signed, Jackson became the highest-paid player in NFL history. Since then, various quarterbacks have earned higher paydays than him, and he’s due for more money.
Jackson is the league’s seventh highest-paid player in guaranteed money and just 10th based on annual salary. Quarterbacks like Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, and Brock Purdy have all signed for more money than Jackson since he signed in 2023.
After a third MVP-caliber season, Baltimore will have to cough up an enormous contract to lock him down for the foreseeable future. The 28-year-old should’ve won another MVP in 2024. He totaled over 5,000 yards, which included 4,172 through the air and 915 on the ground, outplaying the eventual winner, Josh Allen, in almost every metric. Regardless, even without the award in his trophy case, the stretch he’s been on deserves the most expensive contract in NFL history.
Baltimore has numerous players they’ll have to try to extend over the coming calendar year. While Jackson should get the money he deserves, it wouldn’t be a shock if he and the Ravens could agree on a deal that saves some money to keep pending free agents in Baltimore.
The team’s 2026 free agent class looks rough, with players like Tyler Linderbaum, Odafe Oweh, Travis Jones, Mark Andrews, and others expected to hit the open market. They won’t be able to keep them all around, but DeCosta has mentioned they’re already prioritizing future free agency classes.
“We’ve got a lot of business that we’re conducting with different players,” DeCosta told Bordick and Coleman. “As we look out over the next two, three, four, five years, we’re trying to keep as many good players as we can.”
Baltimore will need to get their checkbook out as they look to extend Jackson and other key players. While Jackson still has two years left on his deal, the time could be now to extend him before the market continues to rise.
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