After the trade announcement that shook the Baltimore area this week, Lamar Jackson potentially had two other franchises he could quarterback for the 2023 season. The New England Patriots were one of them. Especially after some interesting revelations by owner Robert Kraft this week. However, Foxborough seems like a stretch at the moment for LJ.
The Indianapolis Colts remain solo in the quest to acquire the 2019 NFL MVP from Baltimore. This is after the Patriots confirmed their faith in third-year quarterback Mac Jones. Also, Lamar’s financial demands may be slightly more than Bill Belichick would want to blow on the quarterback budget.
Lamar Jackson is reportedly interested in joining the Patriots
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Robert Kraft’s press conference at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix, this week, brought about some spicy revelations. And the Lamar Jackson news had fans in Foxborough salivating at the prospect of having the dual-threat quarterback in the pocket next season. Kraft said that he had a chat with rapper Meek Mill. During the conversation, the mutual friend claimed that Action Jackson wanted to be a Patriot.
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In response, Kraft replied, “that’s Bill Belichick’s decision,” as per Mass Live’s Mark Daniels.
Robert Kraft said Meek Mill texted him Lamar Jackson wanted to come to the Patriots 👀
Kraft said that would be Bill Belichick’s decision
(h/t: @AlbertBreer) pic.twitter.com/6nQG8sDZmO
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 27, 2023
Given that Lamar demands something along the lines of a $230 million guaranteed Deshaun Watson-type deal, the Patriots could step back. In retrospect, Belichick didn’t even give that kind of money to seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady when he was in Foxborough. And after 25 years of ruling the NFL with six Lombardi conquests to his name, Bill has definitely earned Robert Kraft’s trust in matters of new acquisitions.
The Patriots will have to give up on their future for Lamar
Lamar Jackson’s Twitter resurgence has laid a lot of doubts to bed. First, he tweeted about the $133 million three-year guaranteed deal he was reportedly offered. And then he announced that he wanted a trade from the Baltimore Ravens this week. “As of March 2nd, I requested a trade from the Ravens organization,” he wrote. “Ravens have not been interested in meeting my value. Any and everyone that has met me or been around me knows I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win a Super Bowl.”
Today, he continued his attack on the Ravens in a series of tweets.
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Let’s get real. I rather have a 100% PCL than go out there and play
horrible forcing myself to put my guys in a bad situation now that’s selfish to me.— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) March 29, 2023
However, the Ravens placed the $32.4 million non-exclusive franchise tag on Action Jackson. That means that shelling out a lot of money for an injury-prone Lamar is not the sole concern. New England would also have to give up two first-round picks if the Ravens didn’t match their offer within five days. However, Belichick may not want to give up future prospects in addition to a max-guaranteed signing.
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Three league sources, close to the situation, confirmed that the Patriots “are not expected to pursue signing or trading for Jackson,” as per The Athletic and the Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Beddard. Guess the fans will have to put their eggs in the Mac Jones basket this season after all.