The Lamar Jackson contract problem has been looming for a while.
If the Baltimore Ravens don't do anything with their franchise QB's situation this offseason, he'll have a cap hit of $74 million in 2026.
Of course, they can't really afford to let that remain the case. They've got a few options.
The one they want to pursue, according to ESPN's Dan Graziano, is a contract extension.
However, Graziano added some interesting intel that seemingly hasn't been shared elsewhere: The Ravens could give themselves $38 million in savings without needing Jackson's approval on such a move.
"The Ravens have automatic conversion rights in the contract, meaning they can add more void years, convert salary to signing bonuses and knock down this year's cap number by as much as $38 million -- and they don't need Jackson's permission to do it," Graziano writes. "Jackson's contract already has void years for 2028 and 2029, though, and Baltimore would prefer to do an extension and avoid dumping more cap charges into future years for which he's not yet signed."
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How is this all going to look? Well, it's harder to know for sure, given that Jackson is his own agent.
"Jackson still doesn't use an agent, and that has led to some complications in these kinds of talks between him and the team in the past, so it's hard to handicap the Ravens' chances of getting it done," Graziano writes.
Clearly, Baltimore is ready to rely on Jackson well into the future. They got rid of head coach John Harbaugh this offseason, which to at least some extent says they're hitching their horses to the two-time MVP QB.
They'll just have to get this contract situation worked out sooner rather than later, because that salary will otherwise be quite tough to deal with.
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