Lamar Jackson showed why he's one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL today with yet another fantastic performance on Christmas Day against NFC powerhouse San Francisco 49ers. With his dismantling of the Niners' defense, many were left wondering why other teams did not pursue Jackson that hard in the offseason when he hinted that he wanted a trade out of Baltimore.

Successfully trading for Jackson under the circumstances he was in during the last offseason was going to be easier said than done, as pointed out by Rich Eisen of the NFL Network and Adam Schefter of ESPN. Said Eisen via X:

Seeing a lot of teams “passed” on Lamar this past spring takes here.

1) He was NEVER a free agent. You would have had to give
@ravens
two No. 1 picks to sign him if the Ravens would not match the offer.

2) The Ravens were never going to let him go.

That is all.

Schefter replied to that post by Eisen to add even more context, saying that not a single team even tried to go after Jackson.

“That is not all. Ravens never were approached. Carolina traded multiple 1s for Bryce Young, yet no team ever tried to get a deal done with Lamar Jackson. There never was a team that challenged it once Jackson himself publicly stated he wanted out of Baltimore. Lost opportunity.”

It can be remembered that the Ravens put the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson before he publicly shared that he wanted Baltimore to trade him. The saga ended when the Ravens inked Jackson to a five-year $260 million extension contract.

Lamar Jackson flashing MVP form in 2023

Lamar Jackson. “MVP?” on the screen

Without any contract drama to deal with, Jackson has managed to play exceptionally well in the 2023 NFL regular season, further adding to his MVP case with a terrific showing against the 49ers in which he passed for 252 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions on 23/35 completions. He also led Baltimore on the ground with 45 rushing yards on seven carries.

On the season, Jackson has 3.357 passing yards and 19 touchdowns with seven interceptions along with a 66.3 percent pass completion rate. He also has 786 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 142 rushing attempts.