Pricey Start to the Season

The good news for the Ravens is that Lamar Jackson is playing at an MVP-type level.

The bad news is that his potential price tag for a new deal keeps rising.

Jackson is ranked No. 1 among all NFL quarterbacks for passing touchdowns and rating over the first three games.

He has also run for 243 yards, tied for fourth among all players. 

Coach John Harbaugh is not worried about Jackson’s contract situation.

He’s just glad to have the dynamic player on his side.

“I mean, no one has to tell me about Lamar Jackson,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I believe in him. I love him. I just believed him the first day we drafted him, the first day we talked about drafting him. Felt like he could be everything he is.

“But I’ll say this about his process. What’s he, in his fifth year now? So, his process as a quarterback in terms of preparation has taken another step. He’s always been going this way. That’s another step in that direction. I think he’s really kind of gotten to a point where he’s really kind of found himself in terms of his quarterback preparation process.”

Belichick takes away the opponent's best weapon, right? So why did Andrews go off? Bill focused on someone else, which we should all take note of.

Plus, what's Lamar lead the league in this week? (basically everything)@zip_jim has all that & more. https://t.co/pUiCGGQOih

— Russell St. Report (@RussellStReport) September 27, 2022

The Ravens and Jackson were at the negotiating table during the summer. However, they could not agree on a new deal. 

The hangup is reportedly guaranteed money.

Deshaun Watson was able to negotiate a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract from the Cleveland Browns and was later suspended by the league.

Jackson is likely looking for a similar deal, and why not, he’s been a more productive player than Watson and has avoided controversy. 

The Ravens view Watson’s contract as an outlier and potentially problematic for future contacts. 

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said that the deal has impacted negotiations with Jackson, especially with the amount of guaranteed money.

“It’s like, ‘Damn, I wish they hadn’t guaranteed the whole contract. I don’t know that he should’ve been the first guy to get a fully guaranteed contract,” Bisciotti said this offseason. “To me, that’s something that is groundbreaking, and it’ll make negotiations harder with others.” 

Jackson is off to another record-breaking start to the season. 

He completed 18-of-29 passes for 218 yards, four touchdowns and an interception (110.3 rating) in a 37-26 victory over the New England Patriots in Week 3. Jackson also had 107 rushing yards and one score on 11 carries. 

It was his second-straight game with three or more passing touchdowns and 100 rushing yards. Jackson became the first QB in Ravens franchise history to record three or more touchdown passes in each of the team’s first three games of a season.

Jackson also became the first player in the Super Bowl era with 10 or more touchdown passes and 100 or more yards rushing in the first three games of a season.

The Ravens will likely place the exclusive franchise tag on Jackson next year while they try to iron out a new deal, which could be even more complicated than it is now.

For Jackson, he’s just focused on winning games. 

​​”Just focus, determination,” Jackson said. “I feel like we build more off adversity, and we play better off adversity. We’ve just got to keep going though because we have a long season ahead of us.”