It's becoming increasingly clear in NFL circles that no team is aggressively pursuing Baltimore Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson, and according to ESPN, that's due to the franchise likely matching any offer sheet made for the 26-year-old.
Executives at the NFL annual meetings in Phoenix, AZ told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano that no team is currently willing to do the legwork of offer sheeting Jackson and having it matched by the Ravens.
“A sign-and-trade scenario would circumvent that process, especially if Baltimore feels like the QB-team relationship has reached a boiling point,” wrote Fowler on Thursday. “But Baltimore's desire to keep Jackson is a common refrain among teams. Then there's the guaranteed money, the multiple first-round picks required to secure a deal and his durability concerns.”
The Ravens seem to be content that no team will make an offer in the short-term, but they also aren't aggressively negotiating a deal with Jackson right now, so it's understandable that Lamar is frustrated with the entire situation.
Jackson announced on social media that he had requested a trade from the organization at the beginning of March, but it seems they have no plans to trade him at this point.
The franchise tag deadline to reach a long-term deal is July 17, and Fowler believes that the NFL Draft will serve as an “inflection point, especially if teams strike out on securing a long-term quarterback prospect in the early rounds.”
At the same time, sources tell Fowler that Jackson doesn't expect to sign the tag in the short-term, as he wants a fully guaranteed contract worth more than the $230 million the Cleveland Browns gave to Deshaun Watson.
The Baltimore Ravens are holding all the cards in the situation because the franchise tag means they could match any offer sheet or refuse to trade him.
“One thing we can say for sure at this point, after listening to the way other teams talked about Jackson at the meetings,” wrote Dan Graziano on Thursday, “is that the Ravens seem to be the team that wants him the most, for whatever that's worth.”
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