The Baltimore Ravens ought to know this quote properly, because the highly-acclaimed present “The Wire” was filmed and set in Charm City.
“One more thing,” kingpin Marlo Stanfield says at a gathering. “Price of the brick goin’ up.”
Former MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson could be justified in feeling this fashion throughout his personal contract negotiations, particularly after Deshaun Watson’s $230 million absolutely assured cope with the Cleveland Browns.
And it seems Jackson does.
A fan tweeted this week that the Ravens ought to give Jackson $250 million. Another fan responded that Baltimore already provided that, and he needs extra.
“No they didn’t,” Jackson tweeted from his verified account.
So it’s clear what Jackson feels he deserves. And he’s not the one one.
“Absolutely he deserves that type of money,” mentioned former NFL huge receiver Bennie Fowler, who performed with Peyton and Eli Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady in his profession. “When you have got that quarterback who can dominate a sport, that’s completely completely different. You’re now in that uncommon air.
“Lamar Jackson’s a game-wrecker,” Fowler continued on the “Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard podcast.” “There’s only a handful of quarterbacks I would say they can wreck a game: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, [Matthew] Stafford. These are game-wrecker quarterbacks.”
We’ll take it a step additional: Jackson may be essentially the most entertaining participant to observe in the complete NFL, which is the most well-liked sport on this nation.
His Week 14 Monday Night Football heroics in 2020, when he ran out of the locker room on fourth all the way down to throw a 44-yard landing to Marquise Brown, is only one instance of why he’s so distinctive and electrical.
There is one downside, although: the final two quarterback contract extensions have handled Watson’s $230 million assured as an outlier, not a precedent for future offers.
Kyler Murray’s $230.5 million extension with the Arizona Cardinals contains solely $103.3 million absolutely assured at signing, per overthecap.com, and initially included a ‘homework clause’ tied to his work ethic.
Russell Wilson’s $245 million extension with the Denver Broncos, signed this week, contains solely $124 million absolutely assured at signing.
Now in Jackson’s protection, none of those contracts must be handled as instantly corresponding to his state of affairs to decrease his worth.
Murray isn’t near the participant Jackson is. Wilson is 33, with no MVPs and one Super Bowl, whereas Jackson is 25 with an MVP nonetheless chasing his first ring. And Watson doesn’t belong in the identical sentence as any of these males for a lot of causes.
Clearly in the long run, each the NFL and NFL gamers’ union are each going to level on the Cleveland Browns’ possession for making a obvious mistake and misjudgment in giving Watson that cash.
Sure, if the aim is to keep away from paying extra gamers that sort of cash or to handle life like expectations, relying on which facet of the desk they’re on.
But nobody ought to begrudge Jackson believing he’s owed extra assured cash than Watson received.
This doesn’t imply he completely wants an agent, both. One supply mentioned Jackson’s rookie contract was completed properly by Jackson’s facet, regardless of not being accomplished with an agent. Jackson’s mother is amongst his shut advisors.
The tightrope Jackson did stroll, maybe unwisely, was arriving at this fifth and closing 12 months of his rookie contract and not using a new deal. From a safety standpoint, this is a gigantic threat.
His wage jumps from $3 million final season to $23 million this fall, however that also places him $10 million behind Detroit’s Jared Goff on common annual worth, for instance.
It will likely be fascinating to see how Jackson proceeds within the subsequent few days. He set Week 1 as his deadline to chop off negotiations with or and not using a deal.
Some imagine he’s going to play out the 12 months, with the Ravens holding the franchise tag as a technique of future management, and revisit this after the season. He should purchase his personal insurance coverage on his profession and earnings.
There’s additionally the thought that he might settle for a brief cope with increased ensures to come back near Aaron Rodgers’ league-high $50 million common.
A four-year, $200 million absolutely assured contract, for instance, might get Jackson to free company earlier with excessive ensures, whereas defending Baltimore by avoiding a long-term dedication (although it’s not clear why they’d need to try this).
Regardless, the value of the brick goin’ up. And it ought to.
JIMMY G IS … BACK?!
It was so sure that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t returning to the 49ers that he wasn’t even training with the workforce just lately. But with no profitable commerce alternatives accessible, Garoppolo unexpectedly took a paycut this week from Niners GM John Lynch to stay as San Francisco’s backup quarterback to Trey Lance.
“There was a thought of [asking to be released] at one point, trust me, there was,” Garoppolo mentioned. “But that came and went. Things just kept falling into place. I’m one of those people that I don’t really want to ruffle the feathers too much … and kind of just want to go with the flow. Things worked out. I’m happy now.”
Bringing Garoppolo again looks as if a hedge in opposition to Lance’s capability to excel and/or keep wholesome, although Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan mentioned that is Lance’s workforce now and that was reiterated throughout this negotiation.
The 49ers would possibly be capable to get higher commerce worth for Garoppolo on the deadline in-season, too, so this buys a while. And within the meantime, the 49ers are a greater workforce with Garoppolo as their backup. He’s taken them to 2 NFC title video games and a Super Bowl berth within the final three years.
FOOTBALL IS HERE
The reigning Super Bowl champion L.A. Rams will host the Buffalo Bills on Thursday evening within the NFL’s 2022 season opener. Both groups have been underneath the microscope just lately.
The Bills just lately launched rookie punter Matt Araiza after allegations of rape surfaced in court docket, an embarrassing state of affairs for Buffalo GM Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott. The accuser’s lawyer Dan Gilleon mentioned the Bills had “ignored” the declare initially when contacted.
Beane mentioned the Bills had been unaware of the allegations after they picked Araiza within the sixth spherical out of San Diego State and that this was “bigger than football.”
The Rams, in the meantime, have been mum about how they’re disciplining star defensive sort out Aaron Donald for dangerously swinging helmets at Bengals gamers throughout a joint follow brawl. “The incident will be addressed internally, and any discipline will remain in-house,” the workforce mentioned.
GRUDEN BACK IN THE NEWS
This week, former Raiders coach Jon Gruden referred to as the hateful emails that received him fired final October “shameful” however insisted he’s a “good person” who asks “for forgiveness.”
“I am ashamed about what has come about in these emails,” Gruden mentioned on the Little Rock (Ark.) Touchdown Club. “And I’ll make no excuses for it. It’s shameful. But, I’m an excellent individual, I imagine that. I am going to church. I’ve been married for 31 years. I’ve received three nice boys.
“I still love football,” he continued. “I’ve made some mistakes, but I don’t think anybody in here hasn’t. And I just ask for forgiveness, and hopefully I get another shot.”
Gruden was additionally within the information just lately as a result of UFC president Dana White revealed that Gruden, when he was teaching Vegas, had nixed a plan to deliver Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski to the Raiders.
“Yeah it’s true,” White mentioned at a press convention. “I talked Brady into playing for the Raiders. And Gronk was coming with him. And they were negotiating the deal and they were really close to getting it done, and then Gruden pulled the deal. And Brady was not happy about it. Neither was I. And that’s that. He went to the Buccaneers and won the Super Bowl.”
THREE-RING CIRCUS
Scott V. Spina Jr., 25, of Roseland, N.J., was sentenced to 36 months in federal jail this week for posing as a former participant for the New England Patriots. That allowed him to purchase household variations of the workforce’s 2016 Super Bowl championship ring — supposedly as presents to family members of quarterback Tom Brady — one in all which bought at public sale for greater than $337,000. A U.S. District decide additionally ordered Spina to pay $63,000 in restitution to a former Patriots participant who bought him his Super Bowl ring and different memorabilia. The Department of Justice launched a full abstract of the case’s findings and verdicts.
THEY SAID IT
“It’s not really hard to get hurt.” — Giants wideout Kadarius Toney, who battled accidents as a rookie and didn’t play within the preseason, however says he’s prepared for Week 1
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Source: www.bostonherald.com