Lamar Jackson Situation Will Ruin Baltimore Ravens Forever, Says Former QB

Lamar Jackson multi-year contract extension could have been a thing of the past if Baltimore Ravens could arrive at a satisfactory number back in January 2021. However, two years later, things are just getting sourer by the day between the two parties. And recently, the franchise put a non-exclusive franchise tag on him. Furthermore, Former Detroit Lions QB Dan Orlovsky thinks that the Ravens are taking Lamar for granted.

After all the negotiations, Baltimore finally put the franchise tag but not the one Lamar would have preferred. By putting the non-exclusive franchise tag on their QB, the Ravens are not giving Lamar his due value and making their stance very clear, according to Dan.

Has Lamar Jackson done too much and received too little?

Baltimore allowed Lamar to speak to other teams and entertain other offers with the non-exclusive franchise tag. However, they still have the right to match any offers or accept two first-round picks in return. And this only saved the franchise around $13 million, with the cap hit coming down to $32.1 million from an exclusive tag price of $45 million. A price too irrelevant for a top 10 dual-threat quarterback in the league like Action Jackson, according to Orlovsky.

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“If you’re Lamar, you sit there going, ‘why would I take less?’ You know I haven’t said this on TV, but I sit there and think Lamar has taken a thousand hits for that organization. A thousand. For what? I think he’s made $25 million dollars? You can’t ask that player to take all those hits and then decide, yeah, we don’t want to pay you as much as you’ve earned or deserve or what the market says. That’s a tough look in your locker room,” Dan said during his appearance today on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’.

Jackson made $1.77 million in 2021 and about $23 million last year.

Lamar’s injuries could have been a concern for the Ravens

Yes, injuries haven’t been kind to the 2016 Heisman-winning quarterback. Despite that, the Purple Rain is 45-16 with Lamar Jackson playing and 8-13 without him. In the last two seasons, Lamar missed the ending part of the Ravens’ 2021 (ankle) and 2022 (knee) seasons with injuries, during which the franchise had a dismal 2-8 record. After a 10-game winning season this year, Lamar’s absence was critical in their wild-card round loss to AFC North rivals Cincinnati Bengals.

Lamar recently retweeted the Baltimore Beatdown and Adam Schefter’s reports of him turning down a $133 million three-year guaranteed contract.

“133/3 fully guaranteed. But I need an agent,” he tweeted, after following it up with another tweet saying, “people just throw s— at the wall and hope it sticks.”

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A couple of franchises have emerged in the talks to acquire Lamar, according to Pro Football’s Mike Florio. However, the legality of that is still doubtful, as the quarterback used a non-NFLPA-certified agent. Will Jackson start the 2023 season in purple or will he leave Baltimore after five years?