OTL: Jackson Updates Us…Via Twitter

Free agency is well underway this week, and there have been a number of surprising acquisitions and rumors. With the Ravens yet to make a serious move, fans share the same sentiment as Marlon Humphrey right about now:

Seeing Free Agents sign to a team that’s not the @Ravens https://t.co/FKYb7DY1TG

— marlonhumphrey.eth (@marlon_humphrey) March 14, 2023

Humphrey has always been a fun Twitter follow, but I find him particularly entertaining during free agency, when the stud CB frequently pitches Baltimore to his peers.

So far, however, it hasn’t worked in 2023. Of course, the Ravens have needed to shed some cap and have a franchise-altering decision that’s likely prioritized over free agency, but fans want to see something happen.

At this point, the biggest news involving the Ravens wasn’t even about an acquisition or release. Instead, it was Lamar Jackson’s response to rumors about his negotiations with Baltimore:

133/3years fully guaranteed😒 but I need a agent? 🤣🤦🏾‍♂️

— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) March 14, 2023

Here’s how the NFL Network covered it:

From Free Agency Frenzy: Lamar Jackson pulled back the curtain and gave us a window into the #Ravens negotations. pic.twitter.com/jGxvVKBFMS

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2023

The way I see it, we’re making a lot over something that doesn’t really say that much. In reality, Jackson responding to these rumors doesn’t say much about where they actually stand. Jackson expresses frustration, no doubt, but we already knew that. Everyone’s frustrated here.

While some are taking this to mean that Lamar was offered a straight three-year, $133M guaranteed extension, in reality he was most likely referring to the first three years of a longer offer. Adam Schefter explained this in no uncertain terms.

.@AdamSchefter broke down the proposed 5-year extension Lamar Jackson turned down ahead of the 2022 season: pic.twitter.com/8QXem1NAg9

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) March 14, 2023

When it comes to where I stand with the Ravens’ situation right now, I’d have to agree with Vasilis:

With the Ravens in position to lose more talent then they gain this offseason, hard to understand why the FO decided to wait until the rookie contract QB window was closed to begin modernizing their offense & salary cap manipulations#RavensFlock

— Vasilis (@VasilisBeatdown) March 14, 2023

To me, Baltimore just seems behind the ball. Yet, they still are in with a strong chance at retaining their star player. There still seem to be no takers for Jackson, but former NFL GM Thomas Dimitroff explains another reason why that might be:

Former NFL GM, Thomas Dimitroff, shares his thoughts on Lamar Jacksons’ non-exclusive tag and why teams are not pursuing him:

⁰📺: @FanDuelTV | @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/kBGsTZnR3K

— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) March 13, 2023

There are so many layers to this, who knows what’s really going on.

From the side of the front office, this isn’t a great look. I feel it’s unlikely they leaked anything about their discussions with Jackson, but at the same time, it’s tough hearing about it after DeCosta’s statements at the NFL Combine.

This is less than two weeks old. Doesn’t seem like it’s aged well. pic.twitter.com/MS0n1P8T9s

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) March 14, 2023

Again, I feel these rumors are likely coming from Jackson’s camp, but ultimately it doesn’t matter much. Nobody wants those numbers out prior.

Speaking of numbers, Brian McFarland has been following the team’s cap situation and concluded the Ravens will have just under $10.5M come 4 PM today:

With the #’s for Edwards/Zeitler included, the Ravens will now have $10,298,314 in Cap space after the trade of Chuck Clark is completed tomorrow after 4:00. There will likely be some other move/restructures made b4 then to add more space for RFA re-signings (Huntley/Moore/Stone) pic.twitter.com/qbquaFr0Eg

— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) March 14, 2023

So, when it really comes down to it, there wasn’t much the Ravens could do the last 48 hours. Looking ahead to this afternoon, Baltimore may surprise.

I’ll be like many fans, as Ramey jokes:

Every Ravens fan tomorrow at 4PM EST pic.twitter.com/tCmLlKFEAO

— Ramey (@HoodieRamey) March 14, 2023