Lamar Jackson’s season-ending PCL sprain left the Ravens watching their Super Bowl hopes fade without their franchise QB. The front office relationship with Jackson then started to turn sour, and the very next year, in 2023, he requested a trade directly to GM. However, no NFL team came up with a valuable trade option.
Oct 30, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) walks off the field after a win over Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Oct 30, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) walks off the field after a win over Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Fans are still split on that, and after more than two years, former Ravens star Torrey Smith started the debate on this Tuesday as Indianapolis Colts traded two first-round picks to the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner.
Smith didn’t mince his words, asking how NFL teams valued an All-Pro corner versus a former MVP quarterback.
Torrey Smith Blasts NFL Teams for Undervaluing Lamar Jackson Despite His MVP Stats
The Colts sent their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks, plus receiver Adonai Mitchell, to acquire the league’s highest-paid cornerback Gardner from Jets. The 25-year-old defensive back is the only corner since the 1970 merger to land first-team All-Pro nods in his first two seasons.
The price may seem so high, but was worth comparing to what teams refused to pay for Jackson in March 2023. That year, the Ravens placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on their star signal-caller, allowing him to negotiate with other NFL teams. Any team that signed him would have had to send two first-round picks to Baltimore.
But nobody bit. Recalling that harsh time, Smith took to X to blast the league’s puzzling priorities. “Folks tossed around first rounders like candy!” he wrote. “I still can’t believe folks didn’t want Lamar Jackson for 2 first-round picks. Wild!”
Folks tossed around first rounders like candy!
I still can’t believe folks didn’t want Lamar Jackson for 2 first round picks.
Wild!
— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) November 5, 2025
The Commanders, Panthers, and Buccaneers all declined to go with him despite his unanimous MVP campaign in 2019. Cornerbacks like Gardner are great, but they don’t touch the ball every play or run the game like MVP signal-callers like Jackson.
That’s why trading two first-round picks for Gardner feels hypocritical when teams passed on Jackson for the same price. The Ravens were also not that interested in selling him, but that was secondary.
Things sorted out later as Ravens and Jackson eventually signed a five-year, $260 million extension in April 2023. Baltimore kept their franchise signal-caller without surrendering him for draft picks, which is mathematically good since the franchise valued their starting QB.
But Smith’s comment has a point because as a former Ravens star, it hurts him emotionally. Comparing the Jackson and Gardner cases, it’s easy to see a double standard in the events that occurred then, or perhaps it’s just that time has changed.