Lamar Jackson Remains Very Available, and It’s Very Weird

Still available: Lamar Jackson, first-string quarterback, 2019 NFL MVP, 2016 Heisman winner, offensive dynamo, highlight phenom, just 26 years old, one of those football players you watch zoom around the field and think: Why can’t my team ever get someone like this? My team is quarterbacked by a telephone pole with a helmet. 

Now your team can. Any team can, after Jackson’s most recent NFL outfit, the Baltimore Ravens, opted in early March to give him a one-year, $32.4 million “nonexclusive franchise tag.” This tag means any franchise has the right to sign Jackson to an offer sheet, and the Ravens have five days to match it, or not. If the Ravens don’t match the new deal, Jackson’s new team sends Baltimore a pair of first-round draft picks.