Lamar Jackson Steals NFL Draft Day With a Record-Breaking, $260 Million Contract

It was just a couple of months ago when Jackson took to social media to say he wanted to be dealt away from the team where he had spent his entire career. That didn’t come out of the blue. Tensions had been mounting for some time after negotiations between the Ravens and Jackson, who represented himself without an agent, produced an impasse. Baltimore’s brass didn’t even rule out taking a quarterback in the draft. 

The friction continued to mount in peculiar ways as the offseason progressed without a deal. In addition to Jackson’s trade request—which he posted to Twitter just as the team’s coach John Harbaugh was sitting down to speak with reporters—the NFL sent an unusual memo to team’s about Jackson. The March letter said that the league had been informed by the NFL Players Association that someone who is not an NFLPA certified agent “may be contacting Clubs and attempting to persuade Club personnel to enter into negotiations with or concerning Lamar Jackson.” 

Uncertified representatives aren’t allowed to discuss contracts or trades on behalf of players—which in Jackson’s case meant he was the only person qualified to talk deals because he wasn’t using an agent. Jackson, at the time, denied the league’s characterization saying the person had never tried to negotiate for him. 

After Jackson’s contract expired for last season, the Ravens applied the franchise tag, a lucrative contract that lasts just one year, on him. But that also diminished his value on the open market. While he was still free to negotiate with other teams, one of the conditions of the franchise tag is that a team would owe Baltimore two first-round picks in exchange for him. 

Jackson, 26 years old, has been one of the NFL’s best and most dynamic players when he’s been on the field. He broke out in a remarkable 2019 season that netted him MVP honors after he threw 36 touchdown passes and set the record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a season. 

But Jackson has also missed time over the past couple of seasons with injuries, and his reliance on his athleticism also raised questions over whether he exposes himself to getting hurt more than his peers. 

That ultimately didn’t dissuade the Ravens from giving him a monster contract topping the one the Philadelphia Eagles recently gave quarterback Jalen Hurts. But unlike the unprecedented, fully guaranteed contract the Cleveland Browns gave Deshaun Watson a year ago, Jackson’s deal is reportedly not completely guaranteed. Still, most of it—$185 million—is, according to ESPN. 

The Ravens also may have given Jackson extra motivation to come back when they signed one of the game’s highest-profile wide receivers, Odell Beckham, Jr. 

Write to Andrew Beaton at [email protected]