Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are at an impasse. As someone who lives in Maryland, I’ll tell you that the mood among Ravens fans is sub-par at best. The local insiders and sports talk radio hosts are convinced the former MVP is done in Charm City.
So what are the most likely things to happen to the star QB this off-season?
Maybe he REALLY likes the Todd Monken hire. Reaching an agreement on an extension is certainly the least likely outcome judging from the reporting on negotiations. ESPN reported a few days ago that Jackson and the Ravens were $100 million apart in negotiations. It’s unclear if the Ravens are severely low-balling Jackson, if Jackson is asking for an absurd number, or if that figure is accurate at all. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that they’ve been negotiating an extension for close to two years and it still hasn’t happened.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (pictured) said this off-season, “Eric wants him here. I want him here. Steve [Bisciotti, Ravens owner] (also pictured) wants him here, and Lamar wants to be here. So, it’s going to work out.” Finally, they answered the question no one was asking. Of course, you want him here. Without him, the Ravens are a below-average team, but nothing there inspires confidence. Harbaugh also said there’s a “200 percent” chance he stays with the Ravens, so I guess that’s that. Ravens fans, you have nothing to worry about.
This is the first of what you might’ve guessed are many NFC South teams on this list. Yes, Tampa Bay needs a quarterback, but the Bucs are the oldest team in the league with an average age of 27.41 years. Tom Brady retiring will cause that average to drop by almost a full year but they still might be headed for a full rebuild.
It seems unlikely they’d be willing to give up what it would take to get Jackson, and equally doubtful that the Ravens would want whatever they were offering. It feels like they would be more likely to trade for Trey Lance, an unproven but still high-potential quarterback, who won’t require nearly the trade package that Jackson would.
Gang Green could put together a good trade package for Lamar, but the question is whether or not they would want to. The Jets have everything they could possibly need — except for a reliable quarterback. New York may not have to go the trade route, especially now that Derek Carr has been released, and Jimmy G is also a free agent.
I’m not completely taking it off the table, but it doesn’t make much sense to trade for an elite quarterback like Jackson when you could get a pretty good one like Carr while giving up nothing. A trade package for Jackson would probably need to include several high draft picks, one of their young stars, and maybe another quarterback in return like Zach Wilson, who wouldn’t be the Ravens’ franchise quarterback, but could be a placeholder for a year. Or maybe… Joe Flacco (pictured) re-signs with the Jets, and gets traded back to the Ravens as part of a Jackson deal to be their placeholder. It’s not going to happen but how funny would that be? Ravens fans would laugh and laugh at the full-circle moment and serendipity of life, and not be mad at all that the team didn’t extend Jackson’s contract two years ago.
We know this team is looking for a quarterback because they just tried to trade for Derek Carr while he was still on the Raiders’ roster, but he exercised his no-trade clause. This team would likely want Lamar but might not have what the Ravens are looking for. New Orleans’ first-round pick, which would’ve been No. 10, belongs to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Saints currently have the 29th overall pick after the Sean Payton trade with the Denver Broncos. Of course, it could all depend on how many years of first-round picks the Saints are willing to give up relative to other teams making offers.
That could put the Ravens in a position to draft Anthony Richardson (pictured), who I’ve seen mocked as high as No. 10 and as low as No. 32. Some have said he will need to develop for a year. In another hilarious roundabout situation, Richardson has plenty of similarities to Jackson at that point in his career. Jackson was seen as a developmental project and criticized for being an inaccurate thrower. The difference is of course that in Richardson’s case, those are actually true.
It’s been a foregone conclusion that if the Raiders aren’t going to draft a quarterback, then Aaron Rodgers is their most likely target. But why not go with someone much younger who can compete with Patrick Mahomes for years to come? The Raiders sneakily have the highest draft pick of any team on this list — seventh overall — and that would give the Ravens the opportunity to draft a quarterback high in the first round. I wonder if Stetson Bennett looks good in purple.
But seriously, that could put the Ravens in the Bryce Young (pictured)/C.J. Stroud/Will Levis sweepstakes. [Editor’s note: It’s more likely that Young and Stroud are off the board by then.] Being able to get who they believe to be their next franchise quarterback in the same offseason that they lose Jackson would definitely dull the sting of losing him.
This is pretty high on the list only because I’m considering each trade destination as a different item on the list. If we were counting “gets traded” as one option, then that would be first by a mile. If he does get franchise tagged, it’s possible that Jackson would opt out until he signs an extension.
Franchise tagging him could buy the Ravens the time they need to work out an extension, but again, if it hasn’t happened already, then what reason is there to think it would get done next season? Franchise tagging him most likely just means he’ll get traded a little bit later than initially thought.
The Panthers have a new head coach — Frank Reich — and a GM, Scott Fitterer, who’s yet to experience having a franchise quarterback since he’s been there. I’m guessing Carolina will want to make a splash. The Panthers had seven different starting quarterbacks in the last four years including members of Jackson’s draft class — Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield (pictured).
Carolina also has the No. 9 pick it could offer. The reason the Panthers are only second on this list is that they actually have the most dead cap in the league and that could be a slight deterrent to signing Jackson long-term, which whatever team trades for him will need to do.
“Conditions are perfect” - Flight of the Conchords
The Atlanta Falcons have the No. 8 pick, which they can offer in the deal, as well as the second-most cap space in the league. With that, the Falcons have the means to trade for him, and sign him long-term. This past season, every team in the NFC South had a losing record. Jackson has won just under 75 percent of the NFL games he’s started. Come on Falcons. Just sink the free throw.