NFLPA’s DeMaurice Smith believes NFL teams want to ‘send a message’ by refusing to give Lamar Jackson a fully guaranteed contract
Lamar Jackson is placed under non-exclusive franchise tag by the Ravens.
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(Images via AP and Kevin A. Koski)
After months and months of failed contract talks, the Baltimore Ravens placed Lamar Jackson under a non-exclusive franchise tag on March 7. The dual-threat QB can now negotiate with other teams and if they struck a deal, the Ravens would have an opportunity to match that contract. If they end up losing Jackson, they might end up getting two first-round draft picks.
But unfortunately for Lamar Jackson, plenty of teams didn’t even consider negotiating with the former league MVP QB. Experts around the league report that Jackson is allegedly asking for a fully guaranteed contract. But the teams are not willing to give that kind of contract to a quarterback, who has missed 10 games in the last 2 regular seasons. ‘
That might explain the teams openly getting out of the race to sign him even before the tampering period ended. Moreover, some experts believe that the Ravens QB not having an agent might be a reason for him not getting the deal he wanted. In fact, Jackson represents himself with the help of his mother Felicia Jones. Nevertheless, teams not showing interest in the former league MVP Lamar Jackson has raised a lot of questions in the last few weeks.
Amidst this situation, DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players’ Association, has given his two cents on the problem and ripped the NFL owners for “gaming the game.”
DeMaurice Smith shares his two cents on the Lamar Jackson situation
NFLPA executive DeMaurice Smith recently wrote an article about why the NFL owners are refusing to give players like the 2-time Pro Bowl QB Lamar Jackson a fully guaranteed contract.
“In my nearly 15-year career as Executive Director, I have never witnessed teams being so quick to publicly announce their lack of interest in an MVP quarterback, who is in his prime and who is also going to get an injury guarantee, regardless of his contract,” wrote Smith.
Smith then went on to rip the NFL owners for wanting to control the players. “The NFL wants to send a message to all of the above-named stars that they will not get a fully guaranteed contract, simply because other first-ballot Hall of Famers didn’t get them and — if they can help it — because Jackson didn’t get one, either,” Smith writes. “The message for the non-quarterback free agent market is equally harsh: You don’t stand a chance of getting this type of contract. The message is clear from the league, WE will control you. The unions and players have fought this for years, and it will undoubtedly continue.”
As DeMaurice Smith mentioned, he has been an NFLPA executive for almost 15 years. He was unanimously elected as the executive director on March 15, 2009, and continues to help the players get fair treatment.
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Aravind Raj
(2075 Articles Published)