Lamar Jackson Contract Woes Set to Impact 2023 NFL Futures

Lamar Jackson is holding up the entire NFL offseason with his huge contract dispute. The 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player Award winner is a game changing quarterback, unfortunately his last two seasons have ended with him off the field injured and his Ravens missing the NFL playoffs in 2021 and flaming out early in the 2022 NFL playoffs.

Lamar Jackson has not finished each of the last two NFL seasons where he has only played in 12 out of 17 games for each campaign, just 70% of games. That’s not ideal, particularly while seeking a huge new contract.

Jackson, one of the best players in the NFL, is doing something that no one of his status is doing, representing himself without an agent, that is almost unheard of in today’s professional sports landscape. MD Betting projects this to be the main cause of concern heading into the 2023 season, and what is most likely to change odds going forward.

How did we end up here?

In March 2022, when the Cleveland Browns were desperate for a new quarterback, they gave Deshaun Watson a five year guaranteed $230 million contract. That contract has apparently set a benchmark for franchise quarterbacks in search of their second contracts.

When Watson became available, Cleveland was trying to woo him along with the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons. The thought was that Watson, who was a native of Georgia, did not want to come to the climate of Cleveland, Ohio; especially playing meaningful games there in frigid December and January.

Once Lamar saw the guaranteed money that was given to Deshaun Watson, he vowed to himself that he needed to have that type of a guaranteed contract. Jackson was justified in his thinking as a current top QB and former NFL MVP winner. Unlike Watson, Lamar has never been in any trouble with the law as long as he has been with the Baltimore Ravens and since he was the 32nd pick out of Louisville back in 2018 where he won the Heisman Trophy back in 2016. Having beat Deshaun out for the Heisman in 2016, Lamar deservedly is trying to beat him out once more.

According to reports, Baltimore’s best and latest offer to Lamar Jackson was a 5 year deal worth more than $250 million with $133 million guaranteed. He rejected that alleged offer back in September of 2022.

Odds Landscape Remains Uncertain

As it stands as of today, March 3, 2023, the Baltimore Ravens have the 8th best odds to win the 2024 Super Bowl, that is even with the uncertainty over Lamar Jackson’s contract situation. If he were to agree to a contract with Baltimore in the coming weeks or months that would help Baltimore soar up the NFL preseason rankings.

There are still multiple teams in the NFL looking for a starting quarterback, such as the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers, the New York Jets, the Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and even the Miami Dolphins. Some of these teams will solve their quarterback situation by drafting college players in the upcoming NFL draft, such as the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, and the Carolina Panthers. Other teams are in a “win now mode” and need a veteran quarterback. Those teams include the New York Jets, the Las Vegas Raiders, the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins.

What does the future hold for the Ravens?

The Baltimore Ravens have a few options here, they can sign Jackson to either the exclusive franchise tag, or the non-exclusive franchise tag by the deadline of March 7th. Most NFL experts feel that the Ravens will do that in the coming weeks and that will bind Jackson to them for the next year where he will receive somewhere between $32-$45 million in guaranteed salary for the coming season.

Either option could prove troublesome as the Ravens only have salary cap problems that need to be remedied.

Other experts feel Lamar Jackson will hold out, not agree to any type of a franchise tag, and will demand a trade to a team, such as the Atlanta Falcons or the Miami Dolphins. Either way it resolves, the next few weeks will prove crucial in order to determine the betting landscape for the AFC in 2023.

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