Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is a former MVP in the NFL, but his future with his team could be in jeopardy. It was a difficult end of the season for both Jackson and the Ravens, and Baltimore could be looking for a new option at that position.
Jackson could be changing teams this offseason, or he could be forced to play with Baltimore under conditions that he isn’t in favor of. This is a story that has taken several twists and turns since the 2022 season ended, and more drama could be on the way.
Here is a look at some of the latest updates on the Lamar Jackson saga with the Baltimore Ravens.
A Strange Tag
The Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson have been exploring a contract extension over the last few seasons, but a deal never seemed to work out. Jackson played the entire 2022 season under his final year of his current contract, and everyone knew that the team had to make a big decision moving forward.
Both sides seemed to want to get a contract extension done, but the two sides were not close in the financial numbers. That forced the Ravens to make a decision on their quarterback, and they made a strange move.
Baltimore placed the franchise tag on Jackson, but it was the non-exclusive franchise tag. That could keep Jackson with the Ravens for another season, but he could also be moving on.
The non-exclusive franchise tag gives other teams in the NFL a chance to offer Jackson a long-term contract. The Ravens would get the opportunity to match that deal, but Jackson hasn’t been able to get a deal from anyone else in the league.
That seemed to be the only real update to this story until the middle of March when Jackson made a shocking announcement.
No Interest…Yet
On the day that all of the NFL coaches were getting together to spend the weekend in meetings, Jackson revealed that he had requested a trade from the Ravens at the beginning of March. Head coach John Harbaugh acknowledged the trade request but still remained hopeful that his team would keep their star quarterback.
At this point, Jackson appears ready to play for another franchise in 2023, but there is one major problem with that plan. Jackson hasn’t been able to generate any real interest from other teams, but that could always change at any time.
One issue that is making this process more challenging is the fact that Jackson is representing himself, and he doesn’t work with an agent. The Ravens are allowing their quarterback to speak with other teams, but there isn’t anyone to talk to.
An outside representative of Jackson was apparently reaching out to teams back in March, but the NFL won’t allow teams to discuss anything with him. The league actually sent a memo to teams to warn them against speaking with anyone that is not approved by the league.
With the NFL Draft set to take place at the end of April, a resolution could be coming.
Ryan Knuppel
Ryan has been one of the leading sports business & iGaming professionals for over 15 years. He started as a freelance writer and now operates one of the top sports content agencies around, Knup Solutions. He has literally written 10,000 plus sports and betting related articles across the web.
Other Projects:
usawager.com, knupsports.com, betdecider.com, njsportsbookreview.com, dunkelindex.com, sportspub.com, oddschoice.com
