Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson appears to be set to enter the 2022 season without a contract extension, an obvious gamble on the part of the 2019 NFL MVP.
A late first-round pick in 2018, Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner at Louisville, has a 37-12 record as the Ravens starter, throwing for 9,967 yards, 84 TDs and 31 INTs, and putting up back-to-back 1,000+-yard rushing seasons in 2019 and 2020.
Jackson had to miss the final four games of the 2021 season with an ankle injury, and the Ravens, after an 8-3 start, missed the playoffs, losing their final six games.
There was speculation that Jackson, who does not have an agent, and has said that he wanted to have a long-term deal in place before the season opener, might sit out games until he gets an extension.
Coach John Harbaugh said Monday that Jackson “is focused on the season.”
“He’s hopeful to get a new contract, and we’re hopeful to get him a new contract. All the rest of it is business. There is nothing other than coming to something that is mutually agreeable,” Harbaugh told reporters after practice.
The market for QBs was reset by the news in March that Deshaun Watson, formerly of the Houston Texans, with a 28-25 record as a starter there, before missing last season due to the saga involving multiple reported sexual assaults, had signed a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract with Cleveland.
The Watson contract came before Kyler Murray re-signed with Arizona for $189.5 million guaranteed, and Russell Wilson, who won a Super Bowl in Seattle, got $165 million guaranteed from Denver.
Jackson is playing on the fifth-year option from his rookie deal, which will pay him a shade over $23 million this year.
If the QB and the Ravens don’t come to terms on an extension, the team could put a franchise tag on Jackson to keep him from becoming a free agent that would pay him $45 million in 2023.