After contract talks stalled this offseason, star quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens reached an agreement in principle on Thursday for a five-year contract extension, Jackson announced. Video posted on the team’s Twitter account.
“There’s been a lot of nail-biting and head-scratching in the last few months, he said, she said,” said Jackson, 26. The home stadium of the Ravens for the next five years. .
The deal is valued at $260 million, according to a person familiar with the terms of the deal, who asked not to be identified because the team hasn’t released financial details.
Jackson won the league’s Most Valuable Player award in 2019 and entered the 2022 NFL season with one year left on his rookie contract. Jackson’s future in Baltimore was shrouded in uncertainty after he and the team failed to agree terms for a contract extension and contract talks were put on hold until the offseason. In March, still unable to agree terms with Jackson, the team gave him a non-exclusive franchise tag of about $32 million a year, allowing him to negotiate with other teams.
jackson said on Twitter He requested a trade in early March after the Ravens were “not interested in meeting my values” last month.
Other quarterbacks in the league have signed new contracts or been traded, including Jalen Hurts, who agreed to a contract extension with the Philadelphia Eagles last week, and Aaron Rodgers, who joined the Jets from Green Bay earlier this week. Jackson’s situation with the Ravens appeared to be in a stalemate — until the team announced Thursday, hours before the start of the NFL Draft. The annual salary is currently the highest in the league, surpassing Hearts, who are worth $255 million on a five-year deal.
The Ravens selected Jackson with the final pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He took over as the team’s starting quarterback midway through his rookie season after Joe Flacco was injured. He led the Ravens to the playoffs in four of his last five seasons, but missed the team’s wild card game in January after suffering a knee injury late in the season.
Jackson has reimagined how the quarterback position is played at the highest level of the sport, challenging opponents with both arms and legs and achieving unprecedented success. , the first quarterback to record 1,000 or more rushing yards in multiple seasons in 2019 and 2020. Last season, Jackson surpassed both his 4,000 career rushing yards and 100 passes his touchdowns, faster than any player in league history.
When Jackson turned pro, like many dual-threat quarterbacks that came before him, especially black quarterbacks, he was questioned by NFL teams about his endurance and might be better suited for another position. I dodged the suggestion that I could not. A lasting image from the 2018 draft shows Jackson and his mother sitting late at night in their dressing room, waiting for his name to be called.
But the Ravens embraced Jackson’s unique abilities rather than stifling them, building an offense around him that seemed unlike any other player in the league. He broke the record for most rushing yards in a 41-year-old season and tied the league record for rushing for at least 100 yards in 43 consecutive games from 2018-2021.
By staying in Baltimore, Jackson will continue to duel the AFC’s cadre of talented young quarterbacks, including Kansas City’s two-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes. Joe Barrow of Cincinnati. Buffalo’s Josh Allen. Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers. and Trevor Lawrence of Jacksonville. He told receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who signed with the Ravens earlier this month, after missing the 2022 season while recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament tear sustained while helping the Los Angeles Rams. It will throw at least one new offensive playmaker and win Super Bowl LVI.
Even when negotiations between Jackson and the Ravens stalled, manager John Harbaugh said both sides held each other in high esteem and expected Jackson to be his starter this season. can be calculated,” Harbaugh said last month.
The Ravens figured out the jersey numbers they needed to keep Jackson and now have five more years with him.
