OTL: Other Teams Can’t “Tamper” with Lamar Jackson

Hello everyone, and Happy Friday. This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for Ravens fans with the Lamar Jackson situation. At this point, it might be nice to reflect on this week and look at what additional information that has trickled out.

The question many fans had is, “when can teams contact Lamar’s camp thanks to the Non-Exclusive tag?”

We got our answer c/o Jeff Z.

This is interesting. So Jackson will have to wait until Wednesday to negotiate w other teams. https://t.co/UGpuTFx3Zu

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) March 9, 2023

Many fans thought that teams could negotiate with Lamar on the day the tampering period began, but it is now confirmed that the date is a bit later than expected. Why is this a problem, though? After all, it is only a few days. Why can’t teams just wait, and why is this such a big deal?

Here is why:

Complicating factor: If a team signs Lamar Jackson to an offer sheet, Baltimore has five days to match. That knocks that team essentially out of free agency and loses them the other available QBs — because they are paralyzed in cap space just waiting. Not impossible. But hard. https://t.co/t6NNufNqey

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2023

This isn’t just any few days; this is a very intricate process. Unlike MLB Free Agency, the NFL moves at lightning speed. Losing a day can be the difference between getting a great player and settling for a mediocre one.

For those who say, “well, just tell the free agents to wait because Lamar is coming,” these players want homes quickly. They don’t want to wait around and just hope that this team can offer on Lamar and wait for the Ravens to respond within five days while other teams can jump in and potentially offer more money. If this happens along with the Ravens matching said offer from the team, then boom, no Lamar and no free agent, and the team ends with egg on their face.

Also, add in the fact that talking to Lamar’s team is difficult due to him not having an agent and the NFLPA being in his ear, and teams probably just don’t want to bother with the headache. It sounds crazy, but it does make sense. It isn’t laziness or collusion by the owners; it might just be that teams don’t want to deal with it, even though Lamar is an awesome quarterback.

Enough about Lamar, because the ravens made a trade.

Sources: The #Ravens are expected to trade safety Chuck Clark to the #Jets in exchange for late-round draft pick compensation. The starter since 2019, Clark now adds veteran experience to NYJ. It should be official when the league year begins. pic.twitter.com/wglGz3oXA1

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2023

It stinks to lose solid players because of the Cap, but sometimes you must do what you must do. Some fans like Chuck Clark and the Ravens love him for his Iron Man ability and football I.Q., but man, did he get on my nerves personally. Chuck isn’t a good coverage player, and while he did hit hard, there were times when I questioned if he ever played football in his life. Chuck was probably gone either way this year, but I am not losing any sleep over this one. We have Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams, and Chuck was the odd man out.

Still, the Ravens will need to make more moves before next week to get under the Cap:

#Ravens potential cap saving moves (without cutting or trading):

Extend Zeitler: up to 4.2m
Extend Duvernay: up to 2.6m
"Extend" Campbell: up to 4.6m
Restructure Andrews: up to 4.4m
Restructure Humphrey: up to 7.2m
Restructure Stanley: up to 7.5m

— Ravens, CPA (@RavensCPA) March 8, 2023

Now, what moves get made? Who knows, but Calais Campbell’s cap hit is prime to be lowered, in my opinion. They could trade or cut Gus Edwards, but he is one of the best backup options at running back in the league, and that would be tough to stomach (although they traded one of John Harbaugh’s dudes in Chuck…)

Though it’s nice to have the extra $13M that came from using the non-exclusive tag on Jackson, tough decisions still loom.

While free agency and Lamar were soaking up the news cycle for the Ravens, they were making some underrated movies on the coaching staff that needs to be talked about.

Broken record, but the #Ravens have made some REALLY great coaching additions lately.

Smith: Pass rush guru.

Wilson: Coached, for the Super Bowl runners up, the DBs on the NFL's best secondary.

Lewis: Coached, for the Super Bowl champions, WRs & RBs on the NFL's best offense. https://t.co/Io40ff5jH0

— Matt Wise (@TheMattWise) March 8, 2023

The Ravens have hired Greg Lewis as their Wide Receivers coach and Chuck Smith as their Outside Linebacker Coach. These hires are amazing and got overlooked due to the elephant in the room. Smith has done amazing work as a coach, including helping Von Miller find another level. Imagine what he could do with Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo next season.

Lewis is also young and comes with a ton of success on his resume.

This is the kind of new blood change that I was begging for from the Ravens, and it feels so nice to get it.

That is enough for today. Come back next Friday, where we hopefully will have a couple of new faces and some movement on the LJ saga.