Stephen A. Smith’s shocking revelation about Lamar Jackson’s contract negotiations changes the entire narrative of the feud between the Ravens and the QB
Stephen A. Smith said sources in Lamar Jackson's camp told him that the quarterback never asked for a fully guaranteed deal from the Ravens.
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Stephen A. Smith and Lamar Jackson (Image via CBS News and The Boston Globe)
Last year, the Cleveland Browns completely disrupted the quarterback market in the NFL when they signed former Houston Texans‘ signal-caller Deshaun Watson to a five-year $230 million fully guaranteed deal. When the Browns signed the record-breaking contract, Watson was still facing lawsuits filed by over two dozen women for sexual harassment.
After Watson’s contract, every quarterback worth their salt asked their teams to offer them a similar contract and the teams happily obliged. Kyler Murray got an extension worth $189 million fully guaranteed, and Russell Wilson was offered $165 million fully guaranteed by the Broncos. Others also received fully guaranteed deals in the range of over $100 million.
However, there is one quarterback in the league who is yet to sign a fully guaranteed deal, and it is Lamar Jackson. Since the beginning of the 2022 season, there have been reports from NFL sources and insiders that the dual-threat quarterback is asking the Baltimore Ravens to give him a $200 million fully guaranteed deal. And the drama has been going on for more than a year. The Ravens and Jackson have been through various negotiations but are yet to reach a common ground.
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Lamar Jackson was offered a fully guaranteed deal, not higher than $133M
Reports suggested that Lamar Jackson is forcing the Ravens to pay him $200 million fully guaranteed just to make a statement. However, as per Stephen A. Smith’s latest revelation, the entire narrative of this ongoing drama changes. “I was connected to someone in Lamar Jackson’s camp yesterday and I was absolutely and emphatically assured Lamar Jackson has never asked for a fully guaranteed deal,” Smith said on First Take.
This latest development has confounded everyone because the narrative that was being pushed by the media was that Lamar Jackson was adamant about getting a Deshaun Watson-like deal. Stephen A. Smith also added that as per the source, Baltimore stopped the negotiations at $133 million fully guaranteed. “Now that’s an insult if true,” Smith said. “That is a lowball offer in today’s market. The Ravens are in no obligation to meet the crazy deal that the Cleveland Browns gave Deshaun Watson. But don’t tell me what Kyler Murray got, Lamar Jackson doesn’t deserve. He deserves $200 million guaranteed.”
Smith further added that the Ravens did not consult Jackson in any way before hiring Todd Monken as the new offensive coordinator. They just sprung up the decision on the 26-year-old quarterback. Smith reiterated the fact that the Ravens are trying to lowball the 2019 Unanimous NFL MVP by offering him a $133 million deal and “screwing him over.”
If Lamar Jackson hasn’t asked for a fully guaranteed deal, then the media is portraying him as the villain in this feud which might make motivate other teams to back out from trying to sign him. Judging from the past contract negotiations, maybe the Ravens won’t pay him $200 million and will probably franchise tag him and keep him for one more year until they pay him or find a trade destination for him. It’ll be interesting to see what Baltimore does as the franchise tag deadline is on March 7.
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Yash Karandekar
(1023 Articles Published)