NFL Rumors: Lamar Jackson's new contract demand from Ravens off by more than $100 million
Lamar Jackson spent all of last offseason talking with the Baltimore Ravens front office about a contract extension. The 26 year old set a deadline that if the negotiations were completed by Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season, then he wouldn't be discussing it until the season ended.
Now that those negotiations have appeared to start up once again, the Baltimore Ravens and the quarterback apparently are way off in terms of money.
Lamar Jackson, as with many NFL players, is looking for more guaranteed money. Similar to what the Cleveland Browns paid quarterback Deshaun Watson last year with a five year, $230 million, fully guaranteed contract.
According to ESPN's senior NFL reporter, Jeremy Fowler, the two sides are apparently close to $100 million apart when it comes to the amount of guaranteed money that should be included in the contract.
The #Ravens and QB Lamar Jackson "could possibly be" $100 million apart in contract talks over how much guaranteed money should be in his contract, according to @JFowlerESPN
"Those trade calls are coming." Fowler adds. https://t.co/NctB8e56BA
That's not all, according to Jeremy Fowler, who also said that possible calls from other NFL teams involving a trade are also coming in:
"Those trade calls are coming."
Considering the success that Lamar Jackson has had in his short time in the National Football League, it's hard for fans to believe that this is the direction that things have gone.
But there's now a real possibility that the quarterback may not play his career out with the Baltimore Ravens.
The Baltimore Ravens will most likely franchise tag their quarterback this offseason, which is $32.4 million and is significantly lower than what the quarterback is looking for.
Could the Atlanta Falcons be interested in trading for Lamar Jackson?
If the Baltimore Ravens are unable to workout a contract extension with quarterback Lamar Jackson and he is traded, could the Atlanta Falcons be interested?
Yes. This past season, the Atlanta Falcons started both Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder. Although Atlanta drafted Desmond Ridder in 2022, many believe that if they could get a veteran quarterback, they would do just that.
Since trading quarterback Matt Ryan last offseason to the Indianapolis Colts, the Atlanta Falcons have been undecided on who should be the starting quarterback. Trading for Lamar Jackson would cement a young, talented offense in Atlanta.
🧐Lamar Jackson to the Atlanta Falcons is a REAL possibility 👀🧐 https://t.co/jBUoIOhujH
It's likely that the Ravens won't give up that easily though. Despite injuries the last few seasons, he is the center of the team's offense and although the teams made it to the playoffs, it was clear they were missing his presence on the field.