Details On Final Ravens Offer That Lamar Jackson Turned Down

After the Ravens and star QB Lamar Jackson failed to reach an extension agreement before the agreed-upon deadline of Friday, more details have emerged about what the Ravens were offering and what Jackson wanted. 

Adam Schefter, Chris Mortensen and Ian Rapoport all reported the Ravens offered Jackson a deal that would have eclipsed Broncos QB Russell Wilson and Cardinals QB Kyler Murray in both average annual salary and in guaranteed money. 

Wilson just signed a deal worth $48.5 million a year and got $133 million fully guaranteed at signing, while Murray $46 million a year and $103.3 million guaranteed at signing. Mortensen says Jackson’s new contract would have been a total of six years, including his current season, and more than $290 million. 

However, the sticking point for Jackson per the reports was the guarantees, as he was seeking closer to the $230 million fully guaranteed deal that the Browns gave QB Deshaun Watson. That’s far and away the most ever guaranteed money given to a player and NFL teams have resisted making it the new precedent. 

Jackson doesn’t have an agent and represents himself in an extremely close circle, so there’s little info from his camp. But he has consulted with the NFLPA and Mortensen, citing union sources, says he was advised that based on performance and age he was justified in seeking a fully guaranteed deal. 

Mortensen adds for now Jackson seems willing to pursue a similar strategy as Vikings QB Kirk Cousins, who played out back-to-back franchise tags and hit unrestricted free agency before signing a fully-guaranteed deal with the Vikings. Watson and Cousins are the only two quarterbacks to reach that milestone. 

The union projects a two-year payout from the franchise tags to be nearly $100 million, per Mortensen. 

Mortensen points out Jackson’s preference is to remain with the Ravens and union talks characterized the negotiations as good faith, although the deal did include $2.5 million in annual de-escalator clauses if Jackson did not attend a significant portion of offseason workouts.

Jackson, 25, is a former first-round pick of the Ravens back in 2018. He just finished the fourth year of his four-year, $9,471,652 contract that included a $5,968,472 signing bonus.

The Ravens picked up Jackson’s fifth-year option that will cost them $23 million fully guaranteed for the 2022 season, but won’t prevent them from working on an extension. 

In 2021, Jackson appeared in 12 games for the Ravens and completed 64.4 percent of his passes for 2,882 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 767 yards and two touchdowns.

We’ll have more on Jackson as the news is available.