The Ravens held their season-ending press conference yesterday featuring head coach John Harbaugh and GM Eric DeCosta. The pair addressed many questions during the 45 minute presser, most of which were focused upon recently departed offensive coordinator Greg Roman and the contract status of Lamar Jackson. The highlighted speakers were polished and purposeful without giving away company trade secrets.
Harbaugh handled questions like he usually does with the skill of a crafty politician while keeping things upbeat without revealing anything meaningful. DeCosta was more forthcoming than his colleague and used the team’s history of personnel moves to paint a rough portrait of how they might handle things this offseason.
Let’s take a look at some of the key points shared by the featured speakers…
Any concerns about attracting an offensive coordinator without the certainty of Lamar’s short and long-term status with the team?
HARBAUGH: I think that’s a great question. My answer would be, ‘No way.’ This is going to be a highly sought-after job; this is one of the top football coaching jobs in the world. Everybody’s going to want this job.
MY TAKE: Nothing more than John’s public spin. He knows, we all know, that a new OC will want the assurances that Lamar, without question, will be the team’s QB in 2023. Said OC will probably prefer that Lamar has a long-term deal in place. Without that long-term deal, it will limit John’s OC options.
If there is no long-term deal, Lamar could hold out, miss OTA’s, training camp and the opportunity to learn a new offensive system and its corresponding terminology. That could place pressure on the entire operation, risk the season’s potential success and place jobs in jeopardy, including John’s. No highly-coveted OC will want to walk into that situation.
How difficult would it be if Lamar is tagged and holds out…
HARBAUGH: There’s no guarantee it’ll go that way, so I think you cross those bridges when you get there, for sure. It’s a great question. It’s definitely – there’s a history of that with guys that are given the tag, but Lamar [Jackson]’s a unique guy, too. Lamar doesn’t always … He’s not beating to everybody’s drum. He does his own thing the way he wants to do it. So, those things will all come down the road as they come, and we’ll adjust and adapt as we face them.
MY TAKE: Lamar has been described as a unicorn and I think the description applies both on and off the field. He’s anything but conventional and given the way he treated the 2022 season without a contract, I don’t think he’d approach a “tag” season any differently. And it could be even more dramatic.
On the chances of getting a new deal done with Lamar…
DECOSTA: I wouldn’t characterize the percentages of getting any deal done or how long it’s going to take except to say that we’ll communicate effectively, we’ll be as fair as we can be, and we’ll try to hammer out a deal. Hopefully, we can get to that point.
HARBAUGH: I don’t know anything about the details about the whole thing, but I know one thing: I’m like all the fans out there and everybody else; I’ll have my fingers crossed, and my toes crossed, and I’ll be saying prayers. I have every faith that it’s going to get done, and we have the best people in the world doing it. Eric DeCosta, there’s nobody better. Eric wants him here, I want him here, [Ravens owner] Steve [Bisciotti] wants him here, and Lamar wants to be here. So, it’s going to work out.
MY TAKE: EDC is more guarded and provides no assurances that a deal WILL get done. John is wearing his heart on a sleeve. While all parties seem determined, this has gone on a long time and to the detriment of the team. Lines in the sand have apparently been drawn. Will they meet in the middle? Time will tell but I preferred the days when the TEAM mattered more than a singular player. These days, it’s all about LAMAR.
Would the Ravens entertain trade offers if Lamar is extended the exclusive franchise tag?
DeCOSTA: That’s something that we’re not going to talk about at this point. I talked to Lamar today, as I said, and our focus right now is really to get a long-term deal done; that’s our singular focus at this point. It’s going to take some time, it’s going to take some effort, it’s going to take great communication – give and take – but I’m confident that we’ll be on the right path to get that done.
I told Lamar that, ‘Hey, this thing has been a burden for both of us,’ I said, ‘But when this thing is over, we are going to feel like a million bucks,’ and that’s truly how I feel.”
MY TAKE: If everyone wants Lamar in Baltimore and Lamar wants to be here, why is this still an issue? Why isn’t a deal done? You know that unicorn thing? I believe it, and I also believe that Lamar possesses an extreme conviction to get what he wants and what he wants is a fully guaranteed deal. I don’t see Steve Bisciotti doing it, but if he does, Lamar is going to feel like more than a million bucks. Try $250M!
Even with a new OC, will the team retain Greg Roman’s brilliant run-game schemes?
HARBAUGH: Yes, I think that’s a really great perceptive point to make, because yes, you want to do that; you want to be able to hold onto those things. And we’ve got coaches here, players here who have run those schemes, that have a feel for those schemes, so yes, that’ll be part of the new process. I mean, I’d like to keep a lot of those schemes around, and that’s passing schemes, too. Greg [Roman] is a great … The passing game that we put together [and] the schemes we have are excellent. So, whatever parts of the offense are able to kind of go forward, we’ll see; we’ll see how that goes. But the answer to your question is, yes.
MY TAKE: Passing schemes were “excellent”? C’mon John! I’m surprised that there wasn’t laughter in the auditorium on par with a Sebastian Maniscalco concert.
As for retaining Roman’s run-game principles, I’m all for it. The trick will be finding a highly-competent OC open to embracing the offensive design of another coordinator while checking his ego at the door. Good luck with that. The NFL is a business of big egos.
If the Ravens were still alive in the playoffs, could Lamar have played?
HARBAUGH: Yes, he [Lamar Jackson] would have, he would have. The details of all that are kind of hard to say, and I have some thoughts on that I’m probably not allowed to say, but I can tell you Lamar wanted to be back, [and] Lamar planned on being back. He was close – just ask him that – but he can speak for himself on that.
MY TAKE: I can’t help but to think back to the time John was asked about Lamar’s availability for the Steelers game on December 11, one week removed from the knee injury sustained against the Broncos on December 4. Essentially, he said it was unlikely but not impossible for Lamar to play in Pittsburgh.
Ask Lamar? I’m sure the media would love to do that if he ever makes himself available. That’s not happening anytime soon, unless of course that evasive long-term deal comes to fruition. BELEEDAT!
Was Lamar’s absence at all contract-related?
DeCOSTA: Lamar can speak to that, but my feeling is no. I think Lamar was hurt. We see him every single day – he’s hurt. And his unique style as a player, as a quarterback, but as a mobile quarterback, as, really, a freaky-type of athlete out there on the field, having a knee injury – a serious knee injury – makes it difficult. And so, it’s just unfortunate that he got hurt [and] the timing of it. I know he was trying to come back. We’d see him daily. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last two years down in the training room. Lamar, along with a lot of other guys, were trying to get back and play, and it was just bad timing, and I think bad luck for us and bad luck for Lamar.
MY TAKE: Did anyone think that the party line would be any different than that which Eric shared? Can’t say I blame him. By the way, when will Lamar speak?
If you get a deal done with QB Lamar Jackson, having paid Roquan Smith, will money be available to sign a veteran, No. 1 wide receiver?
DeCOSTA: I know what the fans would like. (laughter) As we look at it, honestly, when you have a big-ticket item at quarterback, it makes it more challenging – not impossible. We’ll have to get creative, and there are things we can do. There are a lot of different ways to go about constructing the team and finding players and affording players and various things like that. But we’ve got to be really creative. We’ll have to make some tough calls on players that we have on the team, of course, and we’ll consider everything. There are different ways to do it. But what we don’t want, I think, is to mortgage two years from now, three years from now by paying a whole bunch of guys this year. Our goal is to be a really competitive, strong team every single year. And [head coach] John [Harbaugh] jokes with me all the time; he doesn’t really have any interest, at this stage of his coaching career, being in a total rebuild and what that entails, and I really don’t either.
MY TAKE: There will be a surprise cut or trade of a veteran to free up some additional cap space. The Ravens MUST address the wide receiver room. They have no choice. A new OC will likely demand it, unless of course the new OC is less accomplished and lacks the cache to require it for his candidacy. The Ravens really need to find that veteran pass catcher who will impact that WR room in the same way that Roquan impacted the defense. Look at what Stefon Diggs did for Josh Allen. Look at what A.J. Brown has done for Jalen Hurts. It’s time the Ravens do the same for their quarterback. It’s long, long overdue.
In eight months, when you start the 2023 season, will Lamar Jackson be your starting quarterback?
HARBAUGH: 100 percent; 200 percent! There’s no question about it. Lamar Jackson is our quarterback; he’s been our quarterback. Everything we’ve done in terms of building our offense and building our team, how we think in terms of [bringing in] people and putting people around him is based on this incredible young man, his talent, his ability and his competitiveness.
DeCOSTA: I don’t see any reason why he won’t be.
MY TAKE: The sides have been talking about a new deal for well over a year, yet nothing has been done. What will change in the days, weeks and months ahead? What will they talk about that hasn’t already been discussed? Something has to give on both sides otherwise nothing will get done. If and when they get to that crossroad, when they determine that they’ve reached the point of irreconcilable differences, then the nature of the discussions must turn towards a trade.
And I can’t deny, after all we’ve seen and experienced with Lamar over the course of the last three seasons, that a haul of picks and/or players on par with what the Seahawks acquired for Russell Wilson, looks more attractive to me than a quarterback who has missed all of December and January the past two seasons.
Assuming of course there’s a team out there, willing to make such an investment in a unicorn.
31 Responses
Lamar has started the last two seasons with a bang and then seemed to hit a wall and regress somewhat. In both years he was a slow to recover, injured no-show for December. His running ability will decline as he ages and his passing ability is average. I believe Lamar is not being realistic as to his worth and, without an agent, this will be hard to overcome. Playing the season on any kind of Tag is a bad idea for many reasons. Not the least of which being that a Lamar injury would lead to the same situation we just experienced. Ravens will not overpay which is why this is headed to a Tag and Trade.
Both regressions due to injuries around him. 11td 2 int in 4 games with Bateman – reminder Dobbins Edwards Stanley were absent those 4 games
Dobbins, Stanley and Gus were back when he was playing poorly. Lamar regresses as the season progresses. Really believe Lamar knows he wasn’t playing well late in the last 2 seasons and had no interest in coming back.
Great article Tony. I agree with you 100%. No potential OC in their right mind would want this job if Lamar is not signed long term and the WRs are nothing to write home about. If they tag him he certainly could hold out till September 1, 2023, then what? If they reached a long term deal what money would be left to improve the team in other areas like WR. I will bet anyone a large cheese pizza for lunch that Harbs promotes someone from within.
Finally, regarding whether the Ravens should sign Lamar long term, I say no. In 12 games this past year Lamar completed only 62.3% of his passes, for 2242 yards, 17 TDs, and 7 Ints. His completion percentage ranked 26th among qualifying QBs, he was 23rd in yards per attempt while his passer rating (91.1) ranked 16th. When you add to that his injury history the last 2 years, there is no way I am paying him the $250 million guaranteed contract he is seeking.
Long term deal helps our cap space for 2023. Franchise tag really limits us
“…I preferred the days when the TEAM mattered more than a singular player. These days, it’s all about LAMAR.”
Couldn’t have said it any better!
Blame the league for that. Theyve made it all about the QB with rule changes. If you dont have elite QB you have little chance at a title
that’s an interesting insight ty
Harbaugh is committed to his old school offense and it’s not likely to change regardless who the new OC is (see Cameron, Trestman, Mornhinwheg and Roman!)! So, despite all the PR rhetoric, in my humble opinion, Harbaugh’s intransigence will continue to negatively impact this franchise! His stubbornness reminds me of Billick’s insistence that Kyle Boller was a franchise QB and that Harbaugh will eventually meet the same fate as his predecessor! By that time, a lot of damage may have been done! As for Lamar, despite his unique talent, my feelings mirror Mike Preston’s…..time for them to part company! Stay tuned…….
Roman moving on might have satisfied Lamar’s first demand. Now Lamar has to give up something, namely any insistence on a fully guaranteed contract. In fact, after a sub-par year, he has to realistically scale down his expectations. If that doesn’t happen really within a month, the Ravens need to seriously start trade talks, and QB draft research. Forget a franchise tag for one more year of chaos. DeCosta and Lamar can’t continue to negotiate past February or so. If it’s still a no-go by then, then get off the pot. BTW I am so, so sick of Harbaugh at press conferences.
Agreed on Lamar. You bet on yourself and lost by getting hurt. Now in Lamar’s defense we’ve never offered 200 or 220 fully guaranteed to really test his 250 demand. We’ve offered 133 fully and 200 total guarantees but lets be real- those type deals get ripped up halfway through and player gets another deal or cut
Your Lamar hate is weird.
I have no hate for him. That said, I’m more concerned about the welfare of the team. More interested in the name on the front of the jersey, than the one on the back.
You know what is weird? Thos people who take anything not radiantly positive about Lamar as “hate”. Is he a god that he can’t be criticized? Can’t someone like him and be happy with him as the QB and want him to stay – and still think he has flaws (just like everyone does)? Is he beyond critique? Is it blasphemy to say anything other than positives about him?
You see, I for one, have been happy with him at QB and by far my top outcome of the situation would be to retain him. But I’m a Ravens fan, not a Lamar Jackson fan (like I wasn’t a Ray Lewis fan or Ed Reed Fan or Flacco fan). All these players have been great – but I would most certainly not like to see a gigacontract on par with the Deshaun Watson one destroy my team. And it would.
And this is the point when it should be noted that any contract detail or figure is speculation at this point – the 250M, the fully guaranteed part… we don’t know any of that for a fact, these just have been going around too long so people got to treat these as facts. The fact is we do not know. Not me, not you, not Tony… Nobody except the organization and Lamar’s camp – and both have been very effective in keeping facts in the house. Sadly, the low factuality of American sports journalism (sacrificing correctness for the sake of views/clicks) will do that. Just say “Ravens sources” or “someone within the ranks of the organization”, “someone with knowledge of the situation” and people will buy it like it’s a fact. And very few will think of actually verifyng these “sources” (which, in most cases, I can assure you, would end up being twitter) before believing any of it.
Ravens sources leaking today that the next 6 weeks would have to go horrible AND a team would have to make us such a ridiculous offer that only an idiot would turn it down for us to trade him, hence Harbaugh ‘s 200% confidence he will be our QB week 1.
“Ravens sources” Aha 🙂
Will Steve Bisciotti give Lamar the Golden Grail? I don’t think so. At least I certainly hope not. In the business structure of the NFL it is an unassisted financial suicide. In my mind I’ve kind of sifted through the ownerships of the NFL looking for someone stupid enough to blow up their cap structure for the next five or ten years and I’m just not finding anyone else as stupid/desperate as Jimmy and Dee Haslam. The Browns were OK for this season only because Watson’s contract hadn’t ‘hit’ yet. But starting the new season they are already in Cap Hell, and it will get worse. DeSean better not stink and he better not get hurt for the duration.
I really don’t think anyone will be letting another fully guaranteed contract in the NFL. One was an unfortunate mistake, a second one would be a trending practice. And I don’t see the owners voluntarily reordering the power structure.
So what happens now? Does Lamar finally figure out that $250M with $130M to $140M guaranteed is as good as things can get. Or is Lamar capable of blowing the whole thing up because he’s not getting his way? Not a doubt in my military mind . . . He is that unicorn. Does Lamar demand a trade to another team [that also won’t guarantee his entire contract] just because he got his feelings bruised negotiating in Baltimore? Stay tuned, film at six.
Steve in his mind made a deal with Lamar like he did with Joe. He paid Joe because he performed well and we won a SB. Lamar didn’t have to win a SB but he at least needed to play really well and prove he is the long term guy. We haven’t seen those “unicorn” qualities since his mvp season. Lamar failed and unless he is reasonable, the owner has no choice.
People say if Lamar goes to Miami or SF he could take them to the SB. We can say that about most of the QBs in the NFL. Purdy and Grap are bottom 10 QBs. They would win it all with Geno Smith this year. Also, not sure Lamar doesn’t choke in big games. I am not a hater but basing that on what he has done in our playoff games.
I do think it was Flacco’s contract that has taught the Ravens organization about the perils of becoming slaves to a contract… and I’m doubtful they would ever want to go there again.
yup
its all been about lamar
that’s why they fail
As always, right on point!
Yeah, he’s a unicorn … I would probably come up with a few more descriptive terms. I am absolutely disgusted with this situation. I’m with you Tony, I prefer when it’s all about the TEAM, not all about a guy with a completely overblown opinion of himself.
Why would a new OC have to have the guarantee that Jackson is the QB? I don’t understand.
Because the system is tailor made for his skill sets……supposedly!
Roman’s system…
Apparently, you didn’t hear what Harbaugh said in his presser about the Ravens offensive identity being well established and moving forward, which is why all of his OC selections have…….failed
Offensive identity and offensive system are different things. You can have two run-based offenses that look radically different.
Not to Harbaugh! He is definitely NOT pass oriented!
Trust me they would not. Lamar’s contract would be an albatross for the O. They would love walking into a team with a running game like ours. There has to be an asst (OL or RB coach) the Ravens can keep to maintain what we have.
I agree with you. If I’m an OC coming in I wouldn’t want to deal with this guy and his ridiculous contract demands. We’ve got a great running game, a good defense , great kicker. We just need to use the returns from trading Jackson to find a decent ” pro style” QB. A guy who can hit a wide open WR behind the secondary. Which we don’t have right now.
regardless of whether Lamar is here, they can attract a great OC. Our running game is incredible. The running game would make it easy to scheme a great passing game. An OC has to have concerns about Lamar and the limitations caused by his contract. Most OCs should want the O without Lamar and all of the draft picks to supplement the current O.