Lamar Jackson signed a five-year, $260 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. Two years later, his contract has already dropped to 10th in average annual salary. Though he has three years left, the team is already discussing a new deal, general manager Eric DeCosta confirmed.
“We’ve had some conversations before the draft, after the draft, in person last week”, he said of the Ravens’ talks with Jackson about a new contract this offseason, via Kevin Eck writing for the team’s website. “I think we’re in the introductory sort of stage of looking at what an extension might look like”.
It’s unclear what exactly the “introductory” stage means, and if that could mean next year. Last time, the Ravens actually let Jackson’s contract run out, slapping the franchise tag on him. Many expected other teams to hunt after Jackson, but no serious reports of such pursuits surfaced. Surely, many teams since then have come to regret it.
When Lamar Jackson signed his last contract, it made him, very briefly, the highest-paid player in NFL history. Ravens HC John Harbaugh already made it clear that he fully expects his future contracts will do the same. “I think every contract he signs till he decides to hang up his cleats, he’s going to be that guy”, he previously stated.
Over the past two seasons, Lamar Jackson is 623-for-931 passing for 7,850 yards. He has thrown 65 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, averaging 8.4 yards per attempt. He also greatly lowered his sack percentage last season, dropping to 4.63. In that time, Jackson has rushed for 1,736 yards with nine more touchdowns, albeit with 21 fumbles.
For the second time in his career, Jackson won the NFL MVP Award in 2023. He finished second in the voting to Josh Allen a year ago in a narrow vote split. Importantly, he has made significant strides as a passer of the football under new OC Todd Monken.
Of course, the enduring narrative surrounding Jackson has been a relative lack of success in the postseason. Since drafting him in 2018, the Ravens have only reached the conference finals once. In his career, Jackson is 3-5 in the postseason, having never won more than one game in a single run. In his past three trips, he has gone 1-1, including the past two years.
“We’ve got a lot of business that we’re conducting with different players”, DeCosta said about the Ravens juggling contracts. “We’re trying to get as many of those guys signed up as possible. That’s a big challenge and Lamar [Jackson]’s certainly a big part of that”.
The only question is when the Ravens will sign Lamar Jackson to a new deal. They are already on record as stating that, whenever it happens, it will be record-setting. The current record for average annual salary is $60 million, belonging to Dak Prescott, so that is the number to beat.
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