The Ravens on Tuesday utilized the nonexclusive franchise tag to Lamar Jackson, protecting their quarterback off the open market however giving him a possibility to pursue a contract with one other workforce.
Baltimore has 5 days to match any supply sheet Jackson indicators, or they might let him stroll and obtain two first-round draft picks in alternate.
“Having not yet reached a long-term deal with Lamar Jackson, we will use the franchise tag,” Ravens common supervisor Eric DeCosta mentioned in a press release. “There have been many instances across the league and in Baltimore when a player has been designated with the franchise tag and signed a long-term deal that same year. We will continue to negotiate in good faith with Lamar, and we are hopeful that we can strike a long-term deal that is fair to both Lamar and the Ravens. Our ultimate goal is to build a championship team with Lamar Jackson leading the way for many years to come.”
DeCosta might have used the unique franchise tag, projected to price about $45 million, to maintain Jackson off the market completely. He as an alternative opted for the roughly $32.4 million nonexclusive tag, a choice he mentioned he had weighed each day for months.
The transfer doesn’t preclude the Ravens from signing Jackson to an extension earlier than the 2023 season and appears to point they’re assured they might match any supply he receives from one other workforce.
“I think they are trying to, in a roundabout way, get the message out to Lamar that, ‘Hey, we think if we give you a nonexclusive, you think some team is going to sign you to the [fully guaranteed] Deshaun Watson contract, and we think you’re wrong,’” mentioned Brad Spielberger, an lawyer who writes concerning the wage cap for Pro Football Focus.
Spielberger known as the transfer a “huge gamble” as a result of the Ravens might be outbid and would obtain much less compensation — the aforementioned two first-round picks — than they might acquire for Jackson in a commerce.
“I do think there is a team that’s desperate enough to sign him to a Deshaun Watsonesque deal,” Spielberger mentioned, referring to the five-year, $230 million totally assured contract that the Cleveland Browns quarterback agreed to final offseason.
After greater than a 12 months of stalled negotiations, the problem might come to a head shortly if a workforce meets Jackson’s asking worth. The Ravens might be pressured to pay extra assured cash than they’d hoped to maintain Jackson, the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player, or they might say goodbye to the participant who was purported to be central to their plans for years to come back. Or maybe Jackson, who represents himself, won’t discover the deal he desires on the open market and can return to his monetary standoff with the Ravens.
Jackson will have the ability to begin looking for a deal Monday and will signal a suggestion sheet as soon as free company begins March 15. If the Ravens don’t match the supply, they’d obtain the subsequent two first-round picks of the workforce signing Jackson. But there’s no assure Jackson would signal a suggestion sheet earlier than the 2023 draft. He has till the Tuesday after Week 10 of the common season to signal a suggestion with one other workforce or signal the franchise tender and play for the Ravens.
The Ravens can not commerce Jackson, as they’d have been capable of do if they’d utilized an unique franchise tag, except he indicators the franchise tender. An indication-and-trade might be an choice for a workforce such because the Miami Dolphins, who couldn’t instantly signal Jackson to a suggestion sheet as a result of they don’t have a 2023 first-round choose.
Most groups that use the franchise tag go the unique route; DeCosta is playing that his choice will immediate a long-term cope with Jackson and/or depart the Ravens in a stronger monetary place to construct their workforce for subsequent season.
When he spoke with reporters final week on the NFL scouting mix, the Ravens common supervisor acknowledged the issue of constructing for the 2023 season with a lot uncertainty hovering round Jackson.
“It is a wrench,” DeCosta mentioned “We don’t know, and so, yeah, it slows you up a little bit. It does kind of create a little bit of a haze as to what the future’s going to look like with your roster.”
At their season-ending information convention in January, DeCosta and Ravens coach John Harbaugh acknowledged the complexity of ongoing negotiations with Jackson however mentioned they continue to be decided to construct the franchise’s future across the dynamic quarterback.
“Everything we’ve done in terms of building our offense and building our team, how we think in terms of [bringing in] people and putting people around him is based on this incredible young man, his talent, his ability and his competitiveness,” Harbaugh mentioned. “I’ll have my fingers crossed, and my toes crossed, and I’ll be saying prayers. I have every faith that it’s going to get done, and we have the best people in the world doing it. Eric DeCosta, there’s nobody better. Eric wants him here, I want him here, [Ravens owner] Steve [Bisciotti] wants him here, and Lamar wants to be here. So, it’s going to work out.”
DeCosta mentioned in January that the selection between an unique or nonexclusive franchise tag wouldn’t be straightforward, including, “I’ve thought about it every day.”
He has maintained all alongside that the Ravens can afford to suit the value of Jackson’s tag into their wage cap if it’s their best choice. But they might be pressured to chop key gamers equivalent to defensive finish Calais Campbell or working again Gus Edwards to make the maths work.
“Any deal with Lamar is going to affect the salary cap, whether we get a long-term deal done or we do an exclusive franchise [tag] or the traditional franchise [tag], it’s going to affect the cap,” DeCosta mentioned. “Those are big, big numbers. We’re fortunate I think that we have a better salary cap [situation] than most. We have a lot more room than most teams do, which was by design three or four years ago.”
At the identical time, he mentioned the Ravens must be “really creative” so as to add high quality gamers at positions equivalent to huge receiver and cornerback whereas paying a hefty sum to maintain Jackson in place.
Jackson is the eighth participant in Ravens historical past to be franchise tagged, and several other of his predecessors, most not too long ago exterior linebacker Matthew Judon in 2020, have performed full seasons underneath the tag. But the Ravens have by no means been on this place with a quarterback.
Teammates have been clear about what they need.
“You can’t let a guy like him go,” Campbell mentioned. “I know it’s football and there’s always some new exciting toy, a new exciting kid that has potential to go out there and be great, but this is a for sure, a known. You know Lamar Jackson is an incredible player. I think it’s in the best interest of the Ravens organization to give him a long-term contract and make him our guy.”
Tight finish Mark Andrews joked on the Pro Bowl that he would donate his paycheck to maintain Jackson on the town.
The one key social gathering who has mentioned little is Jackson, who has not spoken to reporters because the Friday earlier than he suffered a season-ending knee damage on the primary weekend of December. The Ravens made the playoffs and pushed the Cincinnati Bengals to the restrict within the wild-card spherical with Tyler Huntley at quarterback. But the uncertainty round Jackson’s subsequent step loomed over each recreation he didn’t play.
He final addressed his contract scenario in September, when he and the Ravens didn’t attain an extension settlement earlier than the season opener.
“I don’t know,” he mentioned when requested if a deal was shut. “I don’t know.”
If an extension stays elusive — 4 of the eight gamers tagged final season reached long-term offers — the famous person quarterback could have choices to make. He might maintain out at first of coaching camp, as different gamers have completed underneath related circumstances. Or he might take the extra excessive step of refusing to signal the tag and sitting out the season, as working again Le’Veon Bell did in a standoff with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018.
The Ravens answered one query by inserting the franchise tag on Jackson however opened the door to many extra.
This story will likely be up to date.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com