The NFL has reached the first major milestone in its calendar for the 2023 season. Tuesday marked the beginning of the period when teams can start placing tags on their players. While a lot of teams are undoubtedly preparing to do so, one particular team and player combination is attracting everyone’s attention. It is none other than the Baltimore Ravens, and their franchise QB Lamar Jackson.
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Jackson and the Ravens have been unable to come to terms about a contract extension for the past 3 years. The biggest deal-breaker seems to be the nature of the contract. While Jackson wants a fully guaranteed contract, the Ravens are only willing to guarantee a part of the money. While both sides have their reasons for their demands, their refusal to compromise is costing the Ravens more than it is Jackson.
Stephen A. Smith says Ravens are insulting Lamar Jackson with contract terms
NFL analyst Stephen A. Smith is not very happy with how the Ravens have handled this situation. In his eyes, the Ravens have to be the ones to compromise and cave into Jackson’s demands. “There is no excuse for the Baltimore Ravens, knowing that Deshawn Watson has 230 million guaranteed, that Kyle Murray has 189 million guaranteed, that Russell Wilson has 165 million guaranteed,” he says.
“There is no excuse for the Baltimore Ravens to offer Lamar Jackson 133 million in guaranteed. That is criminal, they have no business doing that. That’s incredibly insulting and I don’t blame him [Jackson] for feeling insulted,” Smith adds. However, he also makes an alternative argument, this time in favor of the Ravens. He says Jackson deserves a lot of guaranteed money, just not all of it.
“However, I would not give him a fully guaranteed deal either,” he says. “He’s missed the last five games of the last two seasons. The best ability is availability, but also reliability. He misses on those two categories: availability and reliability. That in and of itself compromises the ability for you to walk, around with your chest stuck out, talking about you deserve fully guaranteed dollars.”
What can the Ravens do to stop this situation from getting worse?
For one, they can take Stephen A. Smith up on his advice. The best way out of this situation seems to be what Smith says. Pay Jackson a lot of guaranteed money, then keep a few million aside for performance-based incentives. However, Jackson has already been slighted for the better part of 3 years, so he may not exactly agree to such a deal. In that case, a franchise tag is the only option.
The question then becomes, which tag can they apply? If they place an exclusive tag on him, the Ravens will be shielding him from other teams trying t poach him. However, that might go down the wrong way with Jackson, and he may not be a very cooperative signal caller for them. He might even decide to sit out the season, as many before him have.
If the Ravens place a non-exclusive tag on him, Jackson may not be half as angry. However, it opens the Ravens up to threats from other teams. Not just that the Ravens could lose Jackson, but it gives rival teams the ability to insert “Poison pills” in their offers, which the Ravens will have to match in order to keep Jackson. Either way, it seems like a failure for the Ravens if they are forced to place a tag on Jackson.
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