This is only going to end badly for both the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson. There is no way around it. A divorce is going to happen, whether either side wants to admit it right now, or not.
Jackson's trade request, combined with the ongoing trade rumors and him receiving the non-exclusive franchise tag are only going to culminate to a point where we see him in a different uniform in 2023. That's the only way this ends.
General manager Eric DeCosta isn't helping the cause, either, as he recently commented on the 2023 quarterback class, making it sound like this team will be perfectly fine without the former MVP under center.
"I don't want to insult anybody in the draft, but I would say there's probably more than four guys that can be significant quarterbacks in this league in this draft class," DeCosta stated.
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta didn't know when to stop insulting Lamar Jackson
DeCosta didn't stop there. He continued down a road which he should have never driven down, going deep down memory lane in order to build a narrative that he desires to read, "We'll be fine without Lamar Jackson." DeCosta continued:
"The fact is that we think that you can get a quarterback in the first round, or the third round or the fourth round who have a chance to develop. Go back to Tyrod Taylor, when we drafted him in the fifth round or sixth round. Years and years and years ago, Derek Anderson, we took him in the sixth or seventh. So you can get good quarterbacks. You saw what the Niners did last year with Brock Purdy.
"It's quite possible to get a good quarterback at any point in the draft. Obviously, the G.O.A.T., Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick. They're all over the place in the draft. You have to have good scouts, you have to have conviction and in some cases you've got to get lucky, too."
So, we have gone from talking about the top four quarterbacks in this year's draft class to now referring to Derek Anderson and Tyrod Taylor when speaking about the Ravens' current quarterback situation. I am sure Lamar loves hearing his name even slightly referenced in this type of conversation.
Instead of giving even the smallest vote of confidence in Jackson's favor, DeCosta went the opposite route, praising career backups and even suggesting they could find a future starter in later rounds of this year's draft. It's, quite honestly, laughable to say the least.
Again, this situation isn't going to end in a pretty fashion. There's no other way to spin it. The Ravens are going to be without Lamar Jackson for the 2023 season, one way or another. At this point, DeCosta might as well look into a trade, because that's likely the end scene to this catastrophe of a story.