Lamar Jackson has agreed a five-year deal with the Ravens just before the start of NFL Draft. Check out What pick was Lamar Jackson drafted.
Lamar Jackson : What pick was drafted | Contract
When Jackson entered the 2017 season, his fan base and media had high expectations of his performance.
College GameDay announced their return to the University of Louisville to host the opening matchup on September 16 between the returning National Champions, Clemson Tigers, and the Cardinals. Despite the 47–21 blowout the Tigers achieved, Jackson did not let the numbers affect his playing ability.
His remarkable statistics for the season resulted in his being a Heisman finalist for the 2017 season. He finished in third place in the Heisman voting, losing out to Baker Mayfield and Bryce Love.
Jackson played in 13 games, finishing with 3,660 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, and 10 interceptions to go along with 232 carries for 1,601 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 8–5 season.
What Pick was Lamar Jackson drafted
Lamar Jackson will remain a Baltimore Raven for the foreseeable future after agreeing to a five-year contract extension that will reportedly make him the highest-paid player in the league.
The former NFL MVP had requested a trade earlier this year as he struggled to reach agreement on a new deal with the team that drafted him in 2018.
At the time he said the Ravens had “not been interested in meeting my value”. The quarterback has been looking for a contract similar to the fully guaranteed $230m deal Deshaun Watson was given by the Cleveland Browns last year.
“For the last few months, there has been a lot of he said, she said,” Jackson said in a video posted to the Ravens’ official Twitter account. “A lot of nail-biting. A lot of head-scratching going on.”
Jackson then held up a football with the team’s logo and said,:“But for the next five years, it’s a lot of ‘flock’ going on.”
In March, the Ravens applied the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson, meaning he would be paid $32.4m this season but he could join any team who offered him a better deal.
There appeared to be no offers for Jackson when the Ravens applied the tag, leading many to believe no other teams wanted to match the quarterback’s demands.
Jackson was named the 2019 NFL MVP, and his dynamic passing and running make him one of the game’s most compelling stars.
He is already one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 rushing. His 12 games with at least 100 yards rushing are an NFL record.
Jackson has been hurt at the end of the past two seasons, and the Ravens haven’t reached the AFC championship game with him, but his impact on their offense is undeniable.
Contract
The Ravens and Jackson agreed on a $260 million, five-year deal with $185 million in guaranteed money, a person familiar with the terms told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract hasn’t been signed.
| Contract: | 5 yr(s) $260,000,000 |
| Signing Bonus | – |
| Average Salary | $52,000,000 |
| Total Guarantees | $185,000,000 |
| Guaranteed at Signing | – |
| Free Agent: | 2028 / UFA |
The deal keeps the 2019 NFL MVP in Baltimore for the foreseeable future and ends a contract negotiation saga that was dominating the team’s offseason.
Jackson’s contract tops the $255 million, five-year deal the Philadelphia Eagles gave Jalen Hurts earlier this month. Hurts got $179.3 million in guarantees.
Deshaun Watson still has the biggest guaranteed contract in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns gave Watson a five-year, fully-guaranteed $230 million extension last year to waive his no-trade clause and agree to join the team.
The Ravens announced the deal hours before the first round of the NFL Draft, and it’s fair to say that in Baltimore at least, this news will overshadow whoever the team might take in the first round.
Baltimore put the franchise tag on Jackson last month after his rookie deal played out, but the Ravens kept expressing confidence they could reach a long-term agreement with him — even after Jackson made a trade request public.
Jackson’s deal brings one of the NFL’s biggest offseason stories to a conclusion — right as one of the league’s biggest annual events was about to start.
The Ravens can now expect Jackson in the lineup for the first game of the season, without drama about whether he’ll report to camp.