The Baltimore Ravens have until Tuesday to decide if they want to use the franchise tag on Lamar Jackson, and there is no real reason to believe the two sides will avoid that outcome.
Jackson, who has no agent and represents himself, has had off-and-on contract extension negotiations with the Ravens for over a year now. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the star quarterback recently met with Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta in hopes of making progress on a long-term deal. That did not happen.
#Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and GM Eric DeCosta met recently in Jackson’s hometown of Miami in hopes of working towards a deal, per sources.
But after more than a year of negotiations, the sides remain apart and the situation appears headed towards a franchise tag Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/BWqFZMUbBW
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 6, 2023
The question at this point is which franchise tag the Ravens will use on Jackson, not if they will use one. The exclusive tag would guarantee Jackson a salary of around $45 million in 2023, assuming he signed the tender. The non-exclusive tag comes with a roughly $32 million salary, but that would allow Jackson to negotiate with other teams. The Ravens would then have an opportunity to match if Jackson signed an offer sheet. If they chose not to, the new team would have to send two first-round draft picks to Baltimore in addition to signing Jackson to a massive contract.
A report over the weekend indicated the Ravens might take a surprising approach.
Jackson just finished the fifth and final year of his rookie contract. He threw for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 7 interceptions and added 764 rushing yards and another 3 scores on the ground.
Jackson missed five games with a knee injury that head coach John Harbaugh initially described as “week to week.”
