On Thursday, April 27th, 2023 the Baltimore Ravens excitedly announced that they have finally managed to come to an agreement with their veteran superstar self – represented quarterback, Lamar Jackson, on a 5 – year contract extension worth up to approximately $260 million.
Contract Details
Jackson signed a 5 – year contract extension valued at an overall total of $260 million with the Baltimore Ravens. That new deal includes $185 million in total guaranteed money, and Lamar will start earning an average annual salary of $52 million as of this season of the National Football League.
In 2023, Jackson will earn a base salary of $32,416,000, and his salary while carrying a cap hit of $32,416,000 to the books of the Baltimore Ravens. Jackson is now scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent once again in the year of 2028.
Highest Paid NFL Players
This new contract will now make Lamar the highest – paid football player in the NFL at $52 million per year putting him just in front of Jalen Hurts who just sign a contract extension with the Philadelphia Eagles that will pay him up to approximately $51 million per NFL season.
Sources from major sports media outlets previously reported that Lamar was seeking the $230 million in total guaranteed money that Deshaun Watson had received from the Cleveland Browns approximately 1 – year – ago.
On the other hand, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray signed a contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals that included $189.5 million in total guaranteed from as part of his five – year deal $230.5 contract.
“For the last few months, there has been a lot of he said, she said,” the Baltimore Ravens newly resigned quarterback, Jackson, posted on the Baltimore Ravens’ Twitter account. “A lot of nail – biting. A lot of head – scratching going on.“
Lamar then hoisted up a football with the Baltimore Ravens logo as he emphatically stated, “But for the next five years, it’s a lot of ‘flock’ going on.”
Acted as his own Agent in the New Contract Negotiations
Lamar managed through franchise tags and long negotiations with the Baltimore Ravens front office until they finally struck a deal last week. Jackson, who represented himself as his own agent, scored a 5 – year contract extension good for around $255 million which included $180 million of total guaranteed money.
The agreement also came shortly before the commencement of the 2023 NFL draft, when the Baltimore Ravens could have picked a quarterback in the 1st – round. Opposed to that, they optioned to hook Lamar up with Zay Flowers, the star receiver out of Boston College last season, with the number – 22 overall selection.
Last month, the Baltimore Ravens placed the non – exclusive franchise tag on Lamar, which allowed him to negotiate with other teams and gave the Baltimore Ravens the right to match any offer sheet signed by another NFL franchise, but no other teams publicly pursued him. Jackson claims now that all along he wanted to remain a Raven playing his football in Baltimore.
Still, it seemed like the two – sides were headed for a split back on March 27 of 2023, when Lamar publicly announced that he had requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens just before coach John Harbaugh spoke to reporters at the National Football League’s annual meeting. Jackson spoke to Twitter that the Baltimore Ravens, “had not been interested in meeting my value,” in recent contract negotiations.
Now, Jackson is in position to fulfill his draft day promise to the Baltimore Ravens. It was 5 – years and one day ago when Jackson proclaimed after being selected with the last pick of the first round, “They’re going to get a Super Bowl out of me, believe that.”
The Baltimore Ravens with Lamar Jackson
Jackson turned around a once very proud NFL franchise in the Baltimore Ravens that had previously missed the NFL playoffs for three consecutive seasons back into a winning organization once again. Lamar’s overall career record of 45 – 16 (.738) is presently the 4th – best of any starting quarterback to play in the Super Bowl era of the National Football League.
Back in 2019, his first full season as a starter, Jackson became the 2nd – unanimous selection as the MVP of the NFL. Lamar led the National Football League in touchdown passes with 36 -touchdown throws, and he set the NFL record for most rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,206 – rushing yards.
Although Jackson has shined throughout the majority of his time playing professional football he has been plagued by injuries as well as some slight inconsistencies in his play recently. Over the past 2 – NFL seasons, Lamar threw for 33 – touchdowns with 20 – interceptions and he had to miss a total of 11 – games that including a 24 – 17 playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Despite the lack of progress in contract extension talks over the past couple of years, the Baltimore Ravens front office repeatedly stated that they were remaining optimistic that a new deal would get done with Lamar Jackson.
“It was a long, long process,” the Baltimore Ravens general manager, Eric DeCosta, posted to the Baltimore Ravens’ Twitter account last Thursday. “But family is never easy.” Now, the Ravens know Jackson will be in Baltimore for another 5 – years.
Lamar Jackson’s Knee Injury
Currently Lamar was ruled out and sidelined for well over a month from any NFL game action due to a sprained knee that he suffered in a win over the Denver Broncos in week – 13 of the 2022 – 2023 NFL regular season. Jackson was completely taken out for the Baltimore Ravens’ last regular – season game versus the Cincinnati Bengals that year.
The head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, John Harbaugh, told the major sports media outlets on Friday, January 6th, 2023 that the Baltimore Ravens will be, “hopeful,” that Jackson would come back, prepare, and return next week for the start of the 2022 – 2023 NFL playoffs which he was not exactly able to do.
“I can’t wait for him to get back, just like everybody else,” the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens John Harbaugh previously stated. “[Jackson] won’t be playing in this game, and we’ll be hopeful next week. We’ll just see where we’re at then.”
On Thursday, January 5th, 2023 the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, proclaimed that he was not going to anticipate that Jackson would not be to play in last year’s NFL postseason.
“He’s a special guy,” the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman explained. “I think if somebody’s got a chance to do it, he does.”
The National Football League’s Handling of the Cancelled Game
Even though the Baltimore Ravens are locked into a 2022 – 2023 NFL playoff wild – card position, the 10 and 7 Baltimore Ravens still were facing a possibility of having to host a playoff game. Unfortunately, things did not go the Baltimore Ravens’ way once again during their last NFL postseason run.
Because of the past result of how the National Football League is handling the unbalanced schedule this season which was created by the cancellation of the Buffalo Bills vs. the Cincinnati Bengals game following the tragic incident involving the Buffalo Bills Damar Hamlin‘s cardiac arrest, a coin flip could have potentially enabled the Baltimore Ravens to host the Cincinnati Bengals last year, but the Cincinnati Bengals were declared the AFC North champs.
Football Career Achievements, Honors, & Awards
- NFL Most Valuable Player Award Winner (2019)
- First – Team NFL All – Pro Selection (2019)
- 2 – Time NFL Pro Bowl Selection (2019, 2021)
- NFL Passing Touchdowns Leader (2019)
- Bert Bell Award Winner (2019)
- Heisman Trophy Award Winner (2016)
- Maxwell Award Winner (2016)
- Walter Camp Award Winner (2016)
- Associated Press College Football Player of the Year Award Winner (2016)
- Sporting News Player of the Year Award Winner (2016)
- Unanimous All – American Selection (2016)
- ACC Athlete of the Year Award Winner (2018)
- 2 – Time ACC Player of the Year Award Winner (2016, 2017)
- 2 – Time ACC Offensive Player of the Year Award Winner (2016, 2017)
- 2 – Time First – Team All – ACC Selection (2016, 2017)
- Louisville Cardinals Ring of Honor Selection
- Louisville Cardinals Number 8 Retired
Jackson’s NFL Records
- Most single – season rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,206 (2019)
- Most single – season rushing attempts by a quarterback with 176 (2019)
- Most 1,000 – yard rushing seasons by a quarterback with 2 (2019, 2020)
- Most games with a perfect passer rating in the same season (tied with Ben Roethlisberger) with 2 (2019)
- Most games with 100 – rushing yards by a quarterback with 12