The future of the Baltimore Ravens‘ season and of quarterback Lamar Jackson was sent into chaos after Jackson suffered an injury to the thumb on his throwing hand that left him needing surgery and could keep him sidelined through the remainder of the campaign.
This occurred during the club’s 36-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills that dropped the Ravens to 4-4 on Sunday. Following that result, ESPN’s Dan Graziano, Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports and Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic all explained why Sunday’s game could be the last that Jackson ever starts for the Ravens.
Lamar Jackson wasn’t “interested in talking an extension” with the Ravens before his latest injury
“If — and this is still a big ‘if’ at this point — this is a season-ending injury, then the Ravens and Jackson will head into a pivotal, potentially cataclysmic offseason,” Graziano wrote. “Jackson’s projected salary cap number for 2027 is $84.34M, which means the Ravens probably will want to extend him to knock down that number. But Jackson isn’t interested in talking an extension — as was the case this past offseason — so the Ravens will have a decision to make. And if they don’t feel comfortable heading into the final year of Jackson’s deal without an extension in place, we are going to hear legitimate talk of Jackson being traded. Jackson’s contract also has a no-trade clause, which means he’d get to decide where he goes.”
The details of Jackson’s contract, which also prevents the Ravens from retaining his rights after 2027 via the franchise tag, were no secret before he suffered his latest injury. As Zrebiec noted, it was widely assumed before Sunday’s developments that those running the Ravens were keen on trying to lock Jackson down via a lucrative extension this coming offseason. However, the situation may have changed.
Per Zrebiec, Jackson “has missed 21 games and counting since the start of the 2019 campaign.” Additionally, the two-time regular-season Most Valuable Player Award winner will “have missed 16 games over the past two years and left a few other games during that span early with injuries” if he doesn’t play again before the 2027 campaign gets underway.
Such an injury history could lead one to wonder whether Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta and team owner Steve Bisciotti may no longer want to match Jackson’s asking price. Jackson may want to become the new highest-paid player in the NFL whenever he inks his next deal.
Are Ravens fed up with Lamar Jackson “dragging them down?”
“Sure, it would hurt the franchise to watch a player as great as Jackson walk away,” Vacchiano added about the Ravens. “But it would hurt Baltimore even more to pay him as he stands on the sidelines. The Ravens have done way too much of that in four of the past six seasons, and they should be tired of it by now. Jackson may be an integral part of their franchise, but they can’t afford to tie themselves down to an oft-injured quarterback. He may be capable of lifting them to great heights, but his constant absences just keep dragging them down.”
An August report suggested that the New York Jets could want to hire Mike Tomlin as their new head coach in January and then pair him with Jackson ahead of the 2027 season. Perhaps the Ravens would be just fine with accepting a package of draft picks from the Jets for the right to give Jackson the money he’ll want attached to a contract extension.
