Lamar Jackson has overplayed his hand with the Ravens. (Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports)
Lamar Jackson has miscalculated his value around the NFL. In the end, he’ll be forced to crawl back to the Ravens before the 2023 season kicks off.
The contentious relationship between the Ravens and Lamar Jackson is justifiably dominating NFL storylines at the moment. He’s a high-quality starting quarterback who clearly wants out of Baltimore. Unfortunately for Jackson, he’s not going to get his wish.
That’s why Jackson’s camp will be forced to swallow their pride and return to Baltimore when all is said and done. He may be a former MVP playing the game’s most important position, but that doesn’t mean a host of teams are going to line up to acquire him in the offseason.
In fact, there are three major reasons why Jackson isn’t going to be able to secure a move away from the Ravens this offseason. The first is a simple matter of NFL economics.
3. No owner wants to give him a fully guaranteed contract
There’s nothing wrong with the idea that Jackson is interested in signing a fully guaranteed deal. That’s a solid economic strategy for a player who’s struggled to stay healthy in recent years.
Of course, NFL owners are under no obligation to give in to this sort of demand. In fact, they’re incentivized not to give Jackson what he wants. Handing him a fully guaranteed deal would represent a potential paradigm shift around the entire league. No owner wants to be blamed by his peers as the man who ushered in fully guaranteed deals as the norm around the NFL.
Jackson just isn’t the sort of rare player that’s worth breaking the league’s financial structure for. That’s a space reserved for the best quarterback in the league. Jackson’s status as a top-10 signal-caller isn’t enough to force an owner to initiate such a radical economic shift.
