Even because the Ravens’ contract negotiations with Lamar Jackson drag on, with normal supervisor Eric DeCosta reiterating Wednesday that the workforce will work “at Lamar’s urgency,” the quarterback’s unsettled future isn’t anticipated to have an effect on his offseason availability in Baltimore.
In a session with native reporters on the NFL scouting mix in Indianapolis, DeCosta stated he’s by no means mentioned the opportunity of a contract-related holdout with a Ravens participant. In current weeks, some NFL analysts had urged Jackson, a two-time Pro Bowl choice and the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player, to not return to workforce actions till he has signed a profitable extension. Jackson is coming into the fifth and ultimate 12 months of his rookie contract.
“I think just in general, holdouts now for players are pretty problematic in a lot of ways,” DeCosta stated Wednesday, referring to guidelines that, underneath the NFL’s collective bargaining settlement, enable for elevated fines for gamers who maintain out. “The players that are under contract, it’s just very hard to do that in general. The CBA made it very, very challenging for players under contract to hold out. I’ve never had those conversations with any of our players at this point.”
Discussions with Jackson stay “ongoing,” in response to DeCosta. They’ve texted over the previous month, however negotiations haven’t progressed considerably since final month, when DeCosta stated the workforce was “working at Lamar’s pace.”
If the 2 sides can not attain an settlement earlier than subsequent season, Jackson would play on his fifth-year choice, valued at $23 million. A brand new deal can be the most important in Ravens historical past and certain assist the workforce clear a number of million {dollars} in much-needed wage cap house.
Asked whether or not negotiating a take care of such huge implications had a “learning curve,” DeCosta pointed to his expertise finalizing top-of-the-market offers for Ravens standouts Marlon Humphrey, Ronnie Stanley and Mark Andrews. He didn’t, nonetheless, touch upon the method for Jackson, one of many NFL’s few gamers with out an agent. According to DeCosta, they’ve mentioned a contract extension a couple of half-dozen instances over the previous 12 months.
“I think that it takes two sides to actively put their heads together and get the deal worked out,” DeCosta stated. “We are ready to be there for Lamar at any point when he decides that he really wants to work on it, we will be. We have an awesome relationship. We’re so excited about this opportunity coming up, the 2022 season, for him and for the club.”
A 12 months in the past, a brand new deal appeared inevitable. Ravens coach John Harbaugh stated he was “totally certain” that Jackson would comply with a long-term contract, and DeCosta stated he was “confident and committed” to signing Jackson to a megadeal. Jackson himself stated in May that he would “love to be here forever.”
But amid the coronavirus pandemic, the NFL’s 2021 wage cap dropped by almost $16 million, leaving Ravens officers with much less wiggle room than anticipated. Jackson’s cap hit remained $3 million, a bargain-bin worth for a game-changing expertise. (The 2021 cap hit for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, by comparability, whose huge contract extension pays him $43 million yearly, jumped from $5.9 million to $10.2 million after he signed in August.)
Jackson’s disappointing 2021 strengthened his significance to the Ravens whereas elevating doubts about his future with the franchise. Over the season’s opening month, he emerged as one among early front-runners for NFL MVP honors. Despite a slew of season-ending accidents, the Ravens entered Week 13 atop the AFC.
But Jackson was knocked out of an eventual Week 14 loss to the Cleveland Browns with a bone bruise in his proper ankle and didn’t return to recreation motion. The Ravens ended the season on a six-game shedding streak and missed the playoffs for the primary time since 2017. Jackson, hamstrung by accuracy issues, a banged-up offensive line and a leaky protection, completed with career-worst marks in interceptions, sacks and win-loss report (7-5 as a starter).
The Ravens’ disappointing 2021 has not tempered DeCosta’s pleasure for 2022 and past. He stated Wednesday that it was “exciting” to see a wholesome Jackson working towards with broad receivers Rashod Bateman and James Proche II in California lately.
“He’s a guy that when we think about the Ravens three, four, five years from now, we envision Lamar being a very big part of that team and definitely a player that can help us win Super Bowls,” DeCosta stated.
He recalled how, when the Ravens focused Jackson within the 2018 draft, they knew the Louisville dual-threat star and Heisman Trophy winner was a “very special player, kind of unorthodox, not your traditional quarterback.” Five years later, DeCosta is staying affected person and ready because the Ravens proceed an unorthodox, nontraditional negotiation with their most essential participant.
“Really, what we see now is, it is very, very hard to win in the NFL without a blue-chip quarterback,” DeCosta stated. “It simply is. There are definitely going to be anomalies, however to assume that we may win a Super Bowl like we did in 2000 with primarily a dominant protection, that’s very onerous to do now. The recreation has modified, the principles have modified. The method that groups play have modified. …
“It’s definitely a quarterback league. It will continue to be a quarterback league, but you can’t just have a quarterback standing alone. You’ve got to have really good pieces behind him to be the best possible team.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com
