The end of the Jackson era in Baltimore is upon us. Lamar Jackson has made it loud and clear that he wants out of Baltimore as he announced on his Twitter account he asked to be traded at the start of the month.
The Ravens and GM Eric DeCosta are going to rue mucking up this Lamar Jackson contract negotiation for as long as the former MVP plays football.
In what’s probably going to end up being the biggest sports story over the week, Lamar Jackson has officially confirmed his desire to play football for another organization as he has demanded a trade request out of Baltimore.
And, to be honest, it’s honestly not surprising as the Ravens have not only been extremely disrespectful in how they’ve handled the public side of this organization, but the league has also taken an unprecedented approach in stifling potential offers and suitors for Jackson.
Seriously, I can’t think of another time in NFL history where the league has taken such an active approach in the contract negotiations between a player and his team to the point its released league-wide memos to remind the 31 other teams not to negotiate with QB until he has a league-approved agent.
Of course, it’s unusual for players to represent themselves as Lamar Jackson has courageously done, but it’s not unthinkable as Texans LT Laramy Tunsil famously represents himself and he just got paid the largest contract in offensive lineman history with a 3-year, $75M deal. So, clearly, NFL teams are more than willing to negotiate with unrepresented players, yet the league and the Ravens are obviously unwilling to negotiate with Jackson.
Why?
Well, as I’ve said before, I think it comes down to Jackson’s guaranteed contract demand and his dismal of the NFL agent system. Supposedly, Jackson has been asking for $230M+ of guaranteed money from the Ravens, while he’s rejected all offers and proposals from the league’s most noteworthy agents to broker the deal.
Personally, I think paying $230M guaranteed to Jackson is a little too much as he’s been injured the final stretch of the last two seasons, but to essentially blacklist him from negotiating with other teams (which the NFL and Ravens have done) because he wants as much money as possible is despicable.
The NFL agent system is kind of rigged in the first place as a player simply cannot pick an agent to represent them, but rather sign on with an agency or an agent that has been specially approved by the NFL. How is that fair? And doesn’t that just make corruption and screwjobs even more likely?
Moreover, what NFL player isn’t trying to squeeze out as much money from their, respective, team as possible? Sure, it’s usually the agent that takes the player’s contract demands to the team executives, but it’s still the player’s demands at the end of the day. There’s no reason why he be ostracized if he wants to personally negotiate with his team.
Nevertheless, I don’t think this trade demand will come to fruition for Jackson as no NFL team will want to trade away at least two 1st round picks, probably a few roster players, and then take on a $50M or so cap hit for the next 5-7 years after the disastrous quarterback trade market from last offseason.
There’s a reason why the Carolina Panthers, a team desperate for a quarterback, decided to trade up for the 1st overall pick instead of taking Lamar Jackson as they not only can mold and develop their next franchise QB, but he’ll also be on a rookie contract for the next 5 years.
The only teams I could realistically see making a trade for Jackson is the Washington Commanders and the New England Patriots.
Obviously, as a Pats fans, I’d love to see Jackson come to New England, but he’s going to be facing the same issues (i.e.: no receiving help, playing in a stacked division) he had in Baltimore if he comes. And going to the Commanders is like condemning your career away to purgatory as long as Daniel Snyder is in charge of the franchise.
Two undesirable situations for winning a Super Bowl, which is what Jackson said was his primary motivation.
Unfortunately, I believe Lamar is going to end up signing his franchise tag (which he has to anyways) and either sit out the 2023 season or play one last season as the Ravens starting QB, even though both sides have burnt the last wooden embers of their relationship bridge.
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