There’s no secret that throughout this entire offseason, the Ravens have been defiantly skittish regarding free agent acquisitions, with the only external move thus far being the addition of Nelson Agholor on a sub-$2M cap hit for 2023 – an unsexy, albeit solid WR3 (Devin Duvernay is WR4 in my eyes).
Do you blame them for their adamance to abstain though?
The inherent risk that comes with adding more free agent talent at other positions is the potential to further expose your limitations with the 2023 cap, which in turn could allow other teams that may have been skittish in their own right (would the Ravens match their deal?) to potentially take a stab at an offer for Lamar Jackson.
In essence, the Ravens would be robbing Peter to pay Paul, only to see Peter rolled out when someone else offered him what they no longer had.
The thought of the Ravens adding a solid wideout and cornerback to the roster is absolutely intriguing, but doing so only to lose Jackson due to the risks taken, would have been unfathomable for fans to accept, and even more difficult for the front office to defend…
…that is, until now.
Once Jackson essentially sabotaged John Harbaugh yesterday by dropping that Twitter bombshell mere minutes before the Ravens head coach met with the media, all bets should’ve been off. It’s not that he essentially put his cards on the table and told teams “come and get me!” even though… yanno… teams already had the opportunity to do so once the non-exclusive tag was placed on him. It’s because the reports immediately came out – like an echo of last month following the tag – that yet again had a bunch of non-committal or uninterested statements from every potential suitor for his services.
Simply put, the interest is not there. It hasn’t been. It’s not going to be.
The Ravens’ fears of a team making an offer beyond the allocated cap amount for the non-exclusive franchise tag should be put to rest, and the team should be turning their focus to making some moves to further bolster their roster. Call the bluff on any reported interest. Call the bluff on Lamar saying he wants out. Call the bluff on the speculation he could take less elsewhere just to leave Baltimore (still not sure who created that narrative, but it feels like a Screamin’ A Smith vibe).
The Ravens simply can’t stand pat anymore while the rest of the high-end free agents find new homes, and find themselves left to fend for scraps.
So in a rather surprising turn of events from a guy with a longstanding history of saying “no” to any and every free agent, I’m 100% here for the trade discussions regarding Courtland Sutton, or Jerry Jeudy, or DeAndre Hopkins. I’m all in for a debate on which free agent corners could be had for the right price to bolster that CB2 role opposite Marlon Humphrey. Let’s go bring Justin Houston and Calais Campbell back into the fold (or Yannick Ngakoue under Mac??). Call Odell Beckham Jr.!
The worst case scenario is that you have a dark horse sneak in and undercut the Ravens deal and you lose Lamar for a pair of first round picks… but you’ve now stacked your lineup for a rookie QB, and as we’re hearing from reports, the odds anybody makes that offer that also meets Lamar’s contract demands is slimmer than the odds Harbaugh grows a beard (I’ll fight this battle as long as he’s here – DO IT, JOHN!).
Best case scenario, Lamar caves and takes the Ravens’ last offer and we’re set for the long haul.
Middle ground is that he’s unhappy that nobody wants him at his number, but plays on the tag (because he won’t sit and burn eight-figures), and we do this rodeo again next year.
Risk be damned! Let’s go bolster this roster, leave enough space to cover Jackson and the draft class (plus some in-season insurance), and ride high into the 2023 season!
19 Responses
Where is the money to sign all these FA coming from?
Either Lamar signing an extension or him being plucked by another team. This cannot happen if he agrees to play under the tag. He shouldnt because his value goes down every year he does stupid things and gets injured
Yep, he’s straight up playing himself. I called it before the off-season. He’s being greedy and selfish at the expense of the team. Other teams see it, and see the cap hell Cleveland is already in 1 year into their Watson deal. They just restructured it to can the wiggle room this year and now have 3 back end years of 67mil cap hits. Lamar is out of options. He can sign the franchise makethe money this year and pray he doesn’t get hurt again, because if he does he loses out on tens of millions of guarenteed money later. And the Ravens will play the same game next off-season and tag again. Same thing again next off-season but now another prime year wasted and wear and tear. He can sit out but then he gets nothing and is a year removed from playing and just gets tagged again. He should have hired an agent because he is ruining his image with his off field antics and tweets. He talks about taking care of his family? How the hell is getting a contract that has the 2nd most guarenteed money ever (against that Watson aberration) and the possibility of making 250+ if he makes it thru it not giving your family financial stability. If you want to win a SB you can’t hijack the teams cap and hamstring them from fielding a winning team at the expense of one player. Asinine.
Playing the season with Lamar on the Tag will be a disaster and the Ravens know it. Best case, some team steps up and takes him off their hands.
I’m down. Now that he has NO market because he scared all the fish away, offer him something much lower. 😉 It will make it easier to trade him later. Bottom line, he can’t make those outside the hash throws with consistency, his deep shots he only has a 22% accuracy rate on so…..What’s his value? His best value as a running QB who can hit some throws over the middle puts him squarely in the ‘good backup’ QB category. He can get you regular season wins off the bench but it’s a passing league and if you wanna win the trophy you’ve got to have someone that can throw it. Offer him a lowball performance based contract with no roster bonuses and a “No play, No Pay” clause and let’s call it a day. He’ll do his best Vince Young impression and further erode any potential interests which allows us to offer him even less. Let’s get the QB contracts down to around 25 million a season. That’s value for a running QB.
No offer sheets really doesn’t surprise me. I understand the perspective. Given the asking price in both compensation and salary, nobody knows what they are bidding on. Until he finishes a season again he is a player of unknown value, a dubious risk. If he’s smart, he will sign the tag and play his way out of Baltimore. The most valuable ability at qb is availability . . .
Tony…this is your dumbest take ever! We have $7 million in current cap and can’t make any of these moves until we get Lamar to release us from the $32 million tag (by signing a contract). Stop being emotional and THINK! Sounds like you believe Lamar has turned the tables on us?
Adam wrote the article. You’re trashing the wrong guy.
Glad someone said it.
I like it. Lamar with weapons is a top 5 QB. Let’s do it.
Lamar made himself less and less desirable with every move this year and it started with not going to Cincinnati with the team. Then all the drama of the offseason. That’s what happens when you have no agent. Typical young and immature behavior
Agree with Viviano- most likely scenario is Lamar stays for 3 yr 152 fully guaranteed deal with a clause saying no tag in 3 years he’ll be all free. Gets to have highest yearly guarantee in the league
Lamar priced himself out of Baltimore and, without an agent, priced himself out of the NFL. Heck of a strategy Lamar.
I’m so over Lamar. I’m a long time Ravens fan but if Lamar is the Ravens quarterback, I won’t be rooting for the Ravens.
The Ravens have been more than fair with their support for Lamar He has repaid by trashing his coach, Ravens management, fans, and teammates. If Lamars choices are a reflection of his ability to make mature decisions on and off the field than the Ravens will be better off without him.
Don’t slam the door on the way out!
Lamar was treated fairly by the Ravens and they put up with too much bad behavior.
Lamar has repaid by trashu
Now
June 1; Disreguard the above. LOL 😂
I think Gottlieb and Eisen have both covered this. You are worth what the market tells you that you are worth. And right now Lamar isn’t even worth an inquiry. The attitude isn’t going to change no matter how much money someone throws at him. Actually, getting what he wants will just make him that much worse. Time to convince Irsay that it would cost him two #1’s to get a franchise qb anywhere so this is his best deal. Take that #1 at four this year and #1 next year and run for the door.
I think it has to do more with the Cap hit and trying to build a team around him than the 2 #1 Picks.
Sign Lamar, no Lamar,no show can you imagine Baltimore Ravens stadium halfway empty, I thought they were building a team around Lamar, they signed roquan smith, they also need to sign Patrick queen.i hope Baltimore is bluffing,if not we’re through
Without real numbers and players filled in, it’s hard to understand this column. Other than voicing frustration. We get that. But we know the Ravens don’t have much cap space now. How do you add significant contracts AND have any chance of signing Lamar long-term? Or say you’ve decided you really don’t want him long-term. If nobody bites and Lamar signs the tag you have to pony up $35 M. If nobody bites and he doesn’t sign, holds out, the $35 M comes dribbling in through the season. Where’s the money coming from for signing big free agents – IF what’s left is worth the money! I think you’d have to rescind the tag, and free up your $35 M. Tough pill. The Ravens are boxed in.