How did we get right here?
It’s a query that 56 days in the past had a drastically completely different which means than it does now. On March 2, Lamar Jackson instructed the Ravens that he needed to be traded. Now he’s reportedly the highest-paid quarterback within the NFL when it comes to common annual wage after agreeing to a five-year extension with Baltimore value a reported $260 million, together with $185 million assured.
“For the last few months there’s been a lot of he say, she say, a lot of nail-biting, a lot of head scratching going on,” Jackson stated in a video message posted to the Ravens’ social media account shortly after the information broke. “But for the next five years, there’s a lot of ‘Flock’ going on.”
How issues went from a two-years-long stalemate over a long-term contract to a smiling Jackson within the backseat of a Bentley might sound stunning, however there have been breadcrumbs alongside the way in which, beginning with how the Ravens reacted when Jackson revealed his commerce demand in a tweet one minute earlier than coach John Harbaugh met with the media finally month’s NFL house owners conferences in Phoenix. Of the 46 questions Harbaugh was requested that day in an Arizona ballroom, 36 of them have been about Jackson, and Harbaugh repeatedly talked about how a lot “love” the group has for Jackson, how they need him as their long-term quarterback, and the way they have been continuing as if he can be below heart for them in 2023.
Per week later, on the workforce’s predraft information convention, the primary query to basic supervisor Eric DeCosta — who was noticeably unavailable to the media on the house owners conferences — was about Jackson’s commerce request.
“Just out of respect for the process — this is a draft luncheon and we’re going to try to keep as much of this discussion as we can to the draft, to the coming weeks [and] building the best football team we can build,” he stated. “I think we’ve spoken about this situation probably five different times this spring in various different press conferences and such.”
Shortly after that, a Ravens official lower off additional questions in regards to the quarterback.
In different phrases, the workforce had little interest in discussing, by no means thoughts negotiating with, the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player within the media. Placing the $32.4 million nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson 5 days after his commerce request additionally despatched a message to the quarterback that they have been prepared to let him take a look at the marketplace for the large cash, long-term deal he sought.
But a humorous factor occurred inside an hour of the Ravens making use of the tag — seven groups stated they’d little interest in pursuing the 26-year-old star. More groups stated the identical within the weeks that adopted.
Along the way in which, free agent extensive receiver Odell Beckham Jr. — who’s associates with Jackson and had reportedly talked with him through the offseason in regards to the two teaming up — met with a number of groups, together with the Ravens.
On April 9, Baltimore made its transfer, signing the two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl choice to a one-year deal reportedly value $15 million. Beckham and Jackson celebrated the union that evening in Miami Beach, Florida, with dinner at Prime 112 steakhouse and a visit to LIV nightclub.
Four days later, the Ravens launched their latest receiver, who stated that whereas he didn’t get any assurances from Jackson that the quarterback can be returning to Baltimore, he was excited in regards to the likelihood.
“The goal was to come here and have the possibility of playing with him,” Beckham stated at his introductory information convention on the Ravens’ facility on April 13. “I was just excited about the possibility of that. My thoughts would be that he would be here.”
But the fact was that Beckham was in all probability by no means signing with the Ravens until he knew Jackson can be his quarterback. And the departure of much-criticized offensive coordinator Greg Roman after the season and hiring of Todd Monken as his substitute a month later in February definitely didn’t harm.
Meanwhile, when the subject of Jackson got here up with DeCosta, the overall supervisor continued to say the correct issues.
“Lamar is in our plans,” DeCosta stated. “We’re hopeful to still get a long-term deal. He’s the right player for this team.”
Four days later, the Philadelphia Eagles signed their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, to a long-term extension, with the 2 sides agreeing on a five-year, $255 million deal that features as much as $179.3 million assured. It made Hurts, an All-Pro who led the Eagles to the Super Bowl final season, the highest-paid quarterback within the NFL.
The deal helped set the market and supply some framework for Jackson’s deal after no different workforce emerged with a suggestion sheet.
“It was one where it was good for both sides,” ESPN analyst and former New York Jets basic supervisor Mike Tannenbaum stated on ESPN Radio on Thursday. “Remarkably, we have now to do not forget that Lamar Jackson is barely 26 years previous and the very best years of his profession must be in entrance of him.
“The big difference is the $185 [million] compared to the $235 [million] that he reportedly wanted, that’s the Deshaun Watson deal that he reportedly wanted. As the Jalen Hurts deal got done, it was just another deal that showed Deshaun Watson and the Browns were an outlier.”
But Hurts wasn’t the one one to assist the 2 sides come collectively. With a number of groups saying publicly they’d little interest in Jackson and others successfully doing the identical by not making any overtures towards him, a number of the work of the Ravens was achieved by the remainder of the league.
“You look at the cost of $185 million in guarantees, plus two first-round picks [as compensation if the Ravens didn’t match an offer] compared to the fourth pick getting $9 million a year,” Tannenbaum stated. “When you factor in all those things — I don’t think it was about the player in as much as the totality of what it would cost to acquire him from draft choice compensation and financial allocation of the cap.”
As the 2 sides closed in on the deal there have been different hints, too.
On Tuesday evening, Jackson posted a cryptic GIF on Twitter of the fictional TV character SpongeBob Squarepants considering after which grinning.
Then on Thursday, Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who’s shut with DeCosta and had tweeted that Beckham “looks like a Raven to me” two weeks earlier than that deal received achieved, despatched one other cryptic tweet during which he stated he knew who the Ravens have been drafting. That set off hypothesis that Jackson can be signing.
Two hours later, the Ravens introduced that they’d reached an settlement with Jackson.
“Let’s go, baby, let’s go,” Jackson stated within the video. “Can’t wait to get there, can’t wait to be there, can’t wait to light up M&T for the next five years. Let’s get it.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com