Let’s hit the big news from yesterday: some of the Ravens were back at The Castle for the first day of optional offseason activities.
It's go time🚦 pic.twitter.com/2WBaIyCtbc
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 17, 2023
Sigh… I guess we should talk about the actual big news from yesterday. I think I speak for Ravens fans everywhere when I say I’m sick of doing this every time a quarterback inks an extension, but here we go:
Eagles and Jalen Hurts reached agreement on a five-year, $255 million extension, including $179.304 million guaranteed, per source.
Hurts becomes the highest-paid player in NFL history in a deal negotiated by Nicole Lynn of Klutch Sports Group and Eagles’ GM Howie Roseman. pic.twitter.com/DXG0ZWzsGJ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 17, 2023
With Jalen Hurts putting pen to paper for the Eagles, Philly has successfully locked up their franchise QB for the foreseeable future. The 24-year-old QB is hoping to repeat some of last season’s success as his Eagles advanced all the way to the Super Bowl, and the signing of a long-term contract may allow Philly more room to maneuver with their remaining cap space. Normally, an NFC quarterback signing a long-term extension wouldn’t be big news for Ravens fans, but, of course, this offseason has been anything but normal.
If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: how does this change the Lamar Jackson situation?
Safe to say that there’s not a consensus among the Flock.
This feels like a big shoe to drop.
Could get some positive momentum for Lamar's situation. The market is what the market is. #RavensFlock https://t.co/A32mdXLCGh
— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) April 17, 2023
My gut says Lamar still won't budge an inch.
— Jake Louque (@jakelouque) April 17, 2023
I wish I could tell you that this extension helps reset the market, but we’ve seen deals get done over the course of the last two seasons hoping that it would move negotiations along, just to be all for naught. If you believe the reports, though, it’s not for a lack of trying. In anticipation of where the QB market was heading, the front office’s most recent contract offer to Lamar was extremely close to the numbers in Hurts’ deal.
Side-by-side comparison of Jalen Hurts’ deal with the Eagles and the Ravens’ offer to Lamar Jackson last September (per @AdamSchefter)
TOTAL VALUE
JH: $255M
LJ: $250MFULL GTD AT SIGNING
JH: $110M
LJ: $133MTOTAL GTD
JH: $179.3M
LJ: $200M— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) April 17, 2023
Sarah Ellison’s breakdown of the numbers is one of the most succinct ways I’ve seen the contract offer broken down, particularly in parsing the confusion for what qualifies as an actual “guarantee” by the NFL/NFLPA’s definitions. She (deservedly) got some love on The Pat McAfee Show for it, and followed up with some emphasis on where we stand.
Neither Lamar nor the report of $200M *total* guaranteed is wrong, @PatMcAfeeShow. It’s just talking past each other.
The problem is using the vague term “guaranteed.” It shouldn’t be vague, but it is in NFL contract language. There’s all types of guaranteed money in contracts.…
— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) April 17, 2023
From the outside of The Castle looking in, it’s exceedingly frustrating to not know what the actual hold-up is. With numbers comparable to Hurts’ contract, and maybe operating under the assumption that a unanimous MVP selection cancels out a Super Bowl appearance in terms of leverage… what are we still waiting on? Is Lamar holding pat until guys like Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert are offered extensions?
Next up to secure the bag 💰 pic.twitter.com/FTJLmBU2rp
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) April 17, 2023
Has the situation become so untenable that Lamar’s trade request is about more than just leverage? Could all of this have been avoided if, as many have suggested, Lamar had relented and worked with an agent?
A lot of money has been lost in this ordeal by LJ’s camp IMO. An agent would’ve had him sign a deal on 2021 and would’ve re-negotiated after 2023. So much money and time has been lost and it’s sad.
— Reet Manfred (@theNFLchick) April 17, 2023
I say this every time we talk about this situation, or any other sports contract: I’m not about to get into a guy’s pocket and act like I know what’s best for them. I’ve also seen deals done in other sports when guys have acted as their own agents, allowing them to take home a bigger slice of the pie at the end of the day. There is a part of me that understands this. All of that said: those guys were not to their teams what Lamar Jackson is to the Ravens. It is excruciating as a fan to watch the player who is arguably most central to your team’s success be up in the air for this long.
We’re ten days away from the NFL Draft, and the LAST thing I want is for this negotiation to still be hanging over our heads during such a happy occasion. Here’s hoping that the football gods will hear our pleas and put a merciful end to this thing.
Imagine Lamar Jackson settling and signing his deal.
Imagine having enough cap space to acquire DeAndre Hopkins.
Imagine having money to sign depth without restructuring deals.
Imagine going into the draft without big needs.
Imagine knowing how we could look with this.
— Pedro H. Rhormes (@rhormes_) April 17, 2023
7 Responses
Well, it’s pretty simple actually. Hurts has been to an NFC championship game and a Superbowl and LJ has not. Clearly we need to adjust any numbers offered to LJ down about 50 million. Because this is a performance based business. People that win championships or atleast play for championships get paid. People that win about personnel and lack playoff production should be happy to still have job. If LJ believes there’s a better deal out there after this contract signing, then he needs to go find it. Because league MVP is nice and all but it doesn’t have the same ring to it that Superbowl champion does. I hope we draft his replacement and rescind the offer tag. He can become the career backup gadget QB he was always meant to be.
And, the collusion theorists forget that 31 teams passed on Lamar in the first round of the 2018 draft! I wonder why………
All good points. And I’ll add my two cents worth to your post. I don’t like people saying with Hurts (almost) winning a SB, it proves a ” running QB” like LJ can win one. First off, Hurts makes throws LJ doesn’t.
Second, I’m a bama fan, and I saw Hurts as a freshman. He couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from ten yards. And he lost his job. Then he worked his a** off for the next 3 years at bama and then Oklahoma, to get better. Saban literally gets tears in his eyes talking about how hard he worked.
Hurts is a completely different player now than was back then. Due to his WORK ETHIC !! He has become a great QB. Jackson obviously has a … different work ethic. He’s still the same player he was at Louisville. There’s no comparison between these two guys
With Hurts now taking up roughly 23% of his team’s salary cap, let’s see how long the Eagles can continue to be SB contenders. What if the Ravens decide that because colleges are turning out more Hurts/Jackson run-first QBs, it makes more sense to build mad-strong teams with top-tier players in multiple positions, and plug in a new QB every four years or so? Kinda like the Steelers and other teams have done successfully with running backs for a number of years. Beats putting all your cash on one player who’s paid almost double the cap percentage of SB-winning QBs historically.
With Hurts now taking up roughly 23% of his team’s salary cap, let’s see how long the Eagles can continue to be SB contenders. What if the Ravens decide that because colleges are turning out more Hurts/Jackson run-first QBs, it makes more sense to build mad-strong teams with top-tier players in multiple positions, and plug in a new QB every four years or so? Kinda like the Steelers and other teams have done successfully with running backs for a number of years. Beats putting all your cash on one player who’s paid almost double the cap percentage of SB-winning QBs historically.
LJ will probably dig his heels in even further. I am tired of reading how the Raven organization will never be the same or relevant if we lose Lamar. We lost Lewis, Reed and Suggs and we still have a very good D. Players come and go, this organization will find a way to win again and maybe win in the playoffs.
With Hurts now taking up roughly 23% of his team’s salary cap, let’s see how long the Eagles can continue to be SB contenders. What if the Ravens decide that since colleges are turning out more Hurts/Jackson run-first QBs, it makes more sense to build mad-strong teams with top-tier players in multiple positions, and plug in a new QB every four years or so? Kinda like the Steelers and other teams have done successfully with running backs for a number of years. Beats putting all your cash on one player who’s paid almost double the cap percentage of SB-winning QBs historically.