The Baltimore Ravens trade one of the youngest player in the entire NFL, who has 3,000 passing yards and threw 30 touchdowns
Quarterback Lamar Jackson’s fifth-year option has been exercised by the Baltimore Ravens.
A few hours before the NFL draft’s second and third rounds began, on Friday, the team made the announcement. The new collective bargaining agreement includes a tiered system that will pay Jackson $23 million.
The 2019 NFL MVP, Jackson, completed the season with 2,757 yards of passing with 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions (a 99.3 rating). In addition, he made league history as the first quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in two different seasons. But in the postseason, he has not fared well.
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Naturally, signing Jackson to a long-term contract will be expensive for the Ravens, but they are interested in doing so.
The most recent quarterback to sign a massive contract was Deshaun Watson, who signed a four-year, $156 million extension with the Houston Texans last year. Since then, Watson has pressed the struggling team for a trade.
In 2020, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs agreed to a 10-year extension that could be worth up to $503 million. With the deal, the highest-paid contract in North American sports history was surpassed by Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who inked a $426.5 million, 12-year contract in 2019.
Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys inked a four-year, $160 million contract in March.
Jackson, who still plays under his rookie contract and makes an average of $2.4 million a season, benefited from these recent contracts helping to set the market. Jackson, the 32nd overall selection and last pick in the first round of the 2018 draft, won’t be able to sign free agency until 2023.
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Eric DeCosta, general manager of the Ravens, has not wavered in his commitment to Jackson and has acknowledged that a new agreement will affect the way the team does business.
During the team’s pre-draft news conference in early April, DeCosta stated, “It will change the way that we do contracts, potentially.” “We’ll probably need to exercise a little more caution in selecting the players we sign and don’t sign. We might lose a few talented young players. Unfortunately, that’s just the salary cap era we’re in, and every team experiences it.
Thus, if at all possible, we’ll be aggressive. When it comes to assembling this team and expanding the roster, I believe the draft will go on and always be essential to this organization, making draft selections even more crucial than before.
