The Ravens have maintained throughout the stalemate with Lamar Jackson that he was their franchise quarterback, even as he requested a trade. On Thursday, Baltimore made it official.
Baltimore has agreed to an extension with Jackson to keep him in Maryland for the next five years, making him the highest-paid quarterback in the league in the process.
We’ve agreed in principle on a 5-year contract extension with QB @Lj_era8‼️
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 27, 2023
😈😈😈😈 pic.twitter.com/tQj1Rzqcha
Jackson has been extension eligible since the conclusion of the 2020 NFL season, but the two sides have been deadlocked in negotiations since. The stalemate between Jackson and the Ravens led to Jackson eventually saying that he requested a trade from the organization on March 2. Baltimore maintained a desire to avoid trading him and instead continue to work on negotiating a long-term deal after it applied the non-exclusive franchise tag to him.
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But when Jalen Hurts signed his extension with the Eagles, the Ravens were able to offer Jackson a new extension that topped the one received by Hurts, according to Ian Rapoport. Hurts signed a five-year, $255 million deal after leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl in 2022, briefly making him the highest-paid QB in the league.
"Some times you just need time. These things develop and as I said, I think I’ve said it a few times, some times these things can happen in two weeks and sometimes it takes two years, and this was on that scale," general manager Eric DeCosta said on Thursday. "But I think I know that our appreciation and love for Lamar has really never wavered but it was business as well. I said today and I feel that way, sometimes with family, things can get tough, right. We all feel that sometimes.
"But in the end, we’ve been blessed to have Lamar as part of this organization for a long time. We’ve won a lot of football games. I think he feels this place is special too. And it was business. It wasn’t personal and I think over time, that’s kinda what developed.”
In his career, Jackson has completed 63.7 percent of his passes for 101 touchdowns and only 38 picks with 12,209 passing yards. He's had only one season in which he's thrown double-digit interceptions and has been a dangerous pocket-passer despite having what can only be described as a lackluster receiving room throughout his career in Baltimore.
Of course, what makes Jackson stand out so much is what he can do with his legs. He has helped re-define how teams view dual-threat quarterbacks in the league. In his career, he's rushed for 4,437 yards on 727 carries and scored 24 touchdowns. Despite having played in only 70 games, Jackson already ranks fifth in all-time rushing yards by a quarterback. All other top-10 signal-callers have played in at least 143 games.
Here's what you need to know about Jackson's extension.
Lamar Jackson contract details
How much is Lamar Jackson's contract?
The Ravens will be paying Jackson $260 million over the course of his five-year deal, according to Rapoport. That gives him an average annual value of $52 million.
Jackson, who represents himself, had reportedly been offered a deal by the Ravens for five years and $250 million that included as much as $133 million guaranteed at signing and $200 million in total guarantees. Jackson has previously refuted Adam Schefter's report that he received an offer that included $200 million in total guarantees.
"Of course you look at every single deal that gets done. Quarterback deals, that's how you kinda build out the parameters for what you think is fair. The market is what the market is," DeCosta said. "But I think that the way that we feel about Lamar it's the market plus, if that makes sense. We've seen Lamar, we've won lots of games with Lamar. We do feel that he's the best quarterback in the NFL, and I think this contract reflects that."
Jackson will hit free agency in 2027, at which point he will be heading into his age-31 season.
Lamar Jackson guaranteed money
CBS Sports' Josina Anderson reports he received $185 million in guaranteed money. That is not quite as much as the $230 million guaranteed in Deshaun Watson's deal, but it is more than the $179.3 million guaranteed in Hurts' extension.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported the $185 million in his extension includes the injury guarantees. The offer Schefter reported on in September had $175 million, when including the injury guarantees.
That $185 million in guarantees includes injury guarantees.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 27, 2023
Baltimore's offer to Jackson in September was worth $50M per year with $175M in guarantees. Seven months and $10M later, it's a done deal, with a traditional structure.
Highest-paid NFL quarterbacks for 2023
Jackson's new deal immediately vaults him to the top of the NFL's highest paid quarterbacks, surpassing the recent deal signed by Hurts with the Eagles in terms of average annual value.
Here's a look at how Jackson compares to the rest of the league's QBs:
| Quarterback | AAV |
|---|---|
| Lamar Jackson | $52 million |
| Jalen Hurts | $51 million |
| Aaron Rodgers | $50.3 million |
| Russell Wilson | $48.5 million |
| Kyler Murray | $46.1 million |
| Deshaun Watson | $46 million |
| Patrick Mahomes | $45 million |
| Josh Allen | $43 million |
| Daniel Jones | $40 million |
| Matthew Stafford | $40 million |
| Dak Prescott | $40 million |
