There was a time when it appeared that Lamar Jackson may be headed out the door. The contract negotiations between the Baltimore Ravens and Jackson seemed to have grown stagnant and many reports linked the star QB to various other teams. The Ravens and Jackson ending up finally agreeing to a lucrative five-year, $260 million contract extension in April. Still, the process had been a long one, and finding peace during the situation was difficult for head coach John Harbaugh. Harbaugh recently revealed who he trusted in during the previous Lamar Jackson-Ravens uncertainty.

“I was clearly under instruction to wait,” Harbaugh said during a Sports Spectrum podcast, via Joshua Doering of Sports Spectrum. “Basically, God was telling me, ‘This is not something you can do anything about. And if you do something about it, all you’re going to do is mess it up. This is in My hands right now.'”

Lamar Jackson set to lead Ravens once again

Maintaining confidence that a deal was going to get completed surely became difficult for not just Harbaugh, but for the Ravens and Jackson. The QB has played in Baltimore ever since entering the league in 2018. When healthy, he's been one of the best players in the NFL. Injuries, though, have been problematic for Jackson.

Still, the Ravens clearly want him to be their franchise QB. Baltimore is competing in a difficult AFC North, a division that features plenty of star quarterbacks. The Ravens will need Lamar Jackson to lead the charge during the 2023 campaign if Baltimore wants to earn a division championship.