There is something amiss with the Lamar Jackson circumstance.
Jackson, a former unanimous league MVP, was tagged with the non-exclusive franchise tag by the Baltimore Ravens this week after failing to secure a long-term contract. It’s unprecedented. In this century, no team has issued a non-exclusive tender for a quarterback.
The Ravens believe Jackson deserves a guaranteed contract worth between $160 million and $180 million. Jackson wants a $230 million salary like Deshaun Watson’s last year. Baltimore’s position is to find someone else who will pay you that and then get back to us.
The non-exclusive tag has confusing mechanics. Jackson, however, is now free to negotiate a contract with any team in the league. If he signs with a team other than the Ravens, Baltimore will have the option to match the offer and retain Jackson, or they can let him go and receive two first-round draught picks in return.
Jackson is 26 years old and at the apex of his athletic career. Almost all teams should be clamoring to speak with Jackson. Who is negotiating a contract himself along with a management team as opposed to using a traditional agent.
And yet: nothing.
The league just spent a week in Indianapolis prodding, prodding, and studying the newest generation of soon-to-be draftees at the annual scouting combine, attempting to determine which prospects will become franchise-changing players – evaluations that will largely prove to be incorrect. Nonetheless, when a known game-breaker is available, the ultimate one-man offense is… silence.
It’s perplexing. A league-defining, offense-altering player is currently available for a reasonable price, one that is only marginally higher than what Carson Wentz and AJ Brown were traded for over the past 24 months. An athlete of Jackson’s caliber is rarely available. And most certainly not during their athletic prime.
However, within an hour of the Ravens’ announcement, several quarterback-needy teams declared themselves out of the Jackson race. The Falcons, Commanders, Dolphins, Panthers, and Raiders, all of whom had varying degrees of quarterback need, decided against pursuing one of the league’s finest.
The Panthers appear more willing to pay a premium to move up in the draught for a potentially talented newcomer than to sign a contract that guarantees a superstar quarterback’s performance. According to CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson, the Dolphins are exploring all options to ‘upgrade’ their quarterback position in light of Tua Tagovailoa’s health concerns, except for pursuing Lamar Jackson, the only available player who would represent an upgrade over Tagovailoa.
A reminder: this is not a flashy but replaceable player.
Jackson has been exceptional despite having relatively little assistance around him. No team has invested less in their offense over the past four years than the Ravens. But Jackson has consistently made the group a danger. He ensures victories and postseason appearances when healthy.
Teams have good reason to be concerned about Jackson’s injury history, as he has failed to finish the last two seasons. Uncertainty exists as to whether he will be able to maintain his health throughout the entire campaign. And if not, can he evolve his game away from the approach that has made him a unique threat in modern sports?
When engaging in a long-term negotiation, these are reasonable questions to pose. But when did the NFL become the league of 32 intelligent, forward-thinking teams and 32 sensible owners?
Teams take pleasure in wasting money and assets in an attempt to achieve immediate success. This league is not governed by the lucid or responsible. Jim Irsay appointed a coach without significant coaching experience last season because he was his cigar buddy. Even if it means obtaining a decrepit Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, or Carson Wentz, he is relentlessly pursuing the sugar high of the Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck eras. However, he determined within forty minutes that he did not wish to participate in the Lamar Jackson Experience.
It’s not just Irsay. Jackson is one of the few certainties in a league where two-thirds of teams oscillate between quarterback purgatory and quarterback desperation. He is available and willing to depart Baltimore, but a league ruled by egotistical, volatile owners and front offices under pressure to win yesterday has collectively decided to punt on this play.
It’s either an odd coincidence or evidence of conspiracy.
Arizona was pleased to guarantee $190 million to Kyler Murray, a player with a less impressive résumé than Jackson’s. The Packers guaranteed $150 million to a 38-year-old Aaron Rodgers, who could at any moment announce that he’s leaving to establish a yoga retreat, run for political office, or enter the Quantum Realm. Jackson, however, is one of the few players with the aptitude, accomplishments, and career trajectory to demand a contract comparable to Watson’s.
When the Browns went AWOL and guaranteed $250 million to the disgraced Watson a year ago, it upended the quarterback market. It caused players, most notably Jackson, to reconsider how the league structures contracts. Kylian Mbappé, LeBron James, and Mike Trout all have contracts with full guarantees. Over decades, NFL players have been pressured to accept two contracts within one: a base salary and a guaranteed portion.
Jackson is essentially at war with the league’s salary structure in addition to demanding a contract from the Ravens or the open market.
Owners are reluctant to use Watson’s contract as a model. The Browns’ financial situation could be poisoned by this contract. His annual cap blow is close to $55 million. In a league with a rigid salary limit, a quarterback must be the best in the NFL to justify the expense. However, there is no way out of the agreement if there are any signs of decline or injury concerns.
The Browns’ budget would be crippled by the dead limit numbers. If they were to release Watson during the 2023 league year, they would incur a $219 million dead limit charge. This decreases to $165 million in 2024. In 2025, it exceeds $109 million, and only in the final year of the contract does the deceased cap equal the ‘live’ cap charge.
The Watson contract alarmed proprietors for the wrong reasons. He was awful after returning from an 11-game suspension for sexual misconduct allegations. (Watson was never prosecuted criminally.) Jackson’s rejection feels more like a league-wide reaction to Watson’s contract than a criticism of Jackson as a player.
Knowing about collusion and proving it are two distinct things.
Ask Colin Kaepernick how difficult it is to catch an owner or executive with evidence — a text or voice memo. The league would rather resolve a lawsuit than provide discovery with phone records. Even when teams have attempted to collude in the past, they have been unsuccessful. Greed, ego, and the desire to triumph have typically prevented handshake agreements in smoke-filled rooms. In 2010, when the NFL attempted to institute a secret salary cap, Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones were unable to resist spending money behind the backs of the other 30 owners.
But this situation appears to be unique. How else can we explain teams that have underachieved for the past two decades passing up an opportunity to acquire one of the league’s best players?
The Ravens have defied Jackson to find a team willing to match his all-guaranteed, highest-paid-player-in-the-league request. So far, there appear to be no suitors, which is either an indication that Jackson has grossly overestimated his value or that something more sinister is at work.
