The Baltimore Ravens agreed to terms with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on a massive one-year contract. But what does this mean for Lamar Jackson?
The Odell Beckham Jr. recruiting tour has officially reached its end. On Sunday, one day before Beckham was supposed to meet with the New York Jets, he announced that he was signing with the Baltimore Ravens. According to multiple reports, Beckham is signing a one-year contract with the Ravens, and he is set to make up to $18 million, and $15 million is guaranteed.
While adding a player of the caliber of Beckham is a win on paper, the question that remains is — will Lamar Jackson be the one throwing him the football in 2023?
The Ravens and Jackson have reached an impasse on a contract, which saw the team hit him with the non-exclusive franchise tag. During the annual league meetings, Jackson tweeted out that he had requested a trade from the team on March 2.
So, what can we make of the Beckham signing by the Ravens?
What does Odell Beckham Jr. signing mean for Ravens, Lamar Jackson?
If anything, this shows that the Ravens are trying to entice Jackson to play for the team this upcoming season, on the franchise tag at minimum. After all, Beckham would easily be the best pass-catching option not named Mark Andrews that Jackson has had to target in his entire career.
CBS Sports insider Josina Anderson tweeted out that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti had been speaking frequently with Beckham and had been, “pitching him on the idea of coming to Baltimore, the support he would have with the team and the necessity of helping to square things with Lamar Jackson as well.”
That is interesting, especially the “necessity of helping to square things” with Jackson portion.
As part of the non-exclusive franchise tag, Jackson is set to receive $32.4 million for the 2023 season, but he can negotiate an offer sheet with other teams. The problem is, quarterback-needy teams have all bowed out of the running as soon as the tag was placed on Jackson.
While there were reports that Jackson was looking for a fully guaranteed deal with the Ravens, like the Cleveland Browns gave Deshaun Watson. ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote in a recent article that he doesn’t believe that’s the case after the league meetings, instead saying that Jackson wants guarantees worth more than the $230 million Watson received last year.
This past week, the Ravens would not answer questions about Jackson at a press conference. Now, they have made the move to sign Beckham. Now, the NFL world awaits to see if this signing will be enough to convince Jackson to play for the team in 2023.
