How Lamar Jackson Might Score Another Win in Contract Talks

The Baltimore Ravens QB has some leverage for his next deal.

Photo by Brendan Beale on Unsplash

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson may have failed to get a five-year deal with every dollar fully guaranteed, but he still found a way to secure a win to some degree. Now, he may be set to win to some degree again.

Back when Jackson signed his five-year, $260M contract, much talk surrounded Jackson’s attempt to get the entire amount fully guaranteed but ultimately agreeing to a deal that had $135M fully guaranteed, or slightly more than half the money.

While it’s true that Jackson didn’t get a deal like that, he did secure an important win in that all the money he received was new money.

The majority of recently drafted quarterbacks agreed to their new contracts when they still had a year left on their draft pick contracts and, in the case of first-round draft picks, the fifth-year option. Their contract extensions thus had the remaining money rolled into the extension, meaning that money was already due to the player when he signed.

Because Jackson’s draft pick contract expired, his contract signed in 2023 was a new deal with no money rolled over. Thus, Jackson’s win came in the form of the contract being all “new money.”

Jackson’s situation was similar to Dak Prescott, with the exception that Prescott played under the franchise tag for one season before agreeing to a new contract the following season. But as we have seen from Prescott since that time, he was able to negotiate another extension favorable to himself.

That situation happened because the Cowboys were tight on cap space and had other players they hoped to retain. Thus, Prescott was able to leverage his situations to get a contract that, at the time, paid him the highest APY salary, along with a considerable amount of fully guaranteed money.

The Ravens are about to enter a similar situation as the Cowboys in 2027. They are projected to be $65M above the cap, based on a projected base salary cap of $327M. That projection does not include potential cap carryover, but right now, the Ravens have $17.1M in cap space, which even the entire amount rolling over won’t be enough to help.

And the Ravens have at least one player who they might want to get extended soon: wide receiver Zay Flowers. The 2023 first-round pick had his fifth-year option exercised and he will be due about $27.3M. An extension would lower his cap number, but even that may not help the Ravens’ cap situation.

Thus, Jackson could be in position to negotiate a favorable deal, even if it’s not a contract that represents a win in every aspect. As an example, if he agrees to a new deal in 2027, not all the money would be new money as was the case in 2023. Jackson is due a base salary of $51.25M, meaning a significant amount of money would get rolled into any extension he gets.

However, Jackson might be able to score different victories this time. While it’s not likely he’ll get every dollar fully guaranteed, he could push to surpass the APY salary that Patrick Mahomes received or surpass the fully guaranteed money that Josh Allen received.

The Ravens could decide to just restructure his contract again, though it would mean adding more void years. Furthermore, the pro-rated money from a restructure would carry over into a new contract. Because the Ravens have already used two option bonuses and a contract restructure to lower Jackson’s cap numbers, there is already pro-rated money in existing void years. Thus, the Ravens might not want to add more on top of that.

If the Ravens did restructure the deal again, though, that would mean Jackson’s next contract would represent all new money. Furthermore, that could just drive up his asking price, because multiple QBs from the 2024 draft class are eligible for extensions in 2027.

As we’ve seen in recent seasons, it’s clear the Ravens are a better team with Jackson than they are without him. It’s thus in the Ravens’ interest to keep Jackson. Therefore, even if Jackson doesn’t have an agent, he still should know enough about his position and the Ravens’ situation to use that for leverage.

Time will tell what happens, but it wouldn’t surprise if Jackson finds a way to get himself another important win in contract negotiations — even if it’s not the type of win most people would emphasize.