Lamar Jackson, the star quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, is currently on the market after he received his non-exclusive franchise tag for the 2023 season.
That tag would allow him to freely negotiate a new contract with another team, and if he comes to a new deal with terms the Ravens don’t want to match, they’ll get a first-round pick as compensation. Will get two drafts.
However, there has been virtually no interest in Jackson.
According to some, one reason for this is concerns about his durability, as he has missed five games in each of the last two seasons due to injury.
However, Dov Kleiman pointed out that Deshaun Watson has torn his ACL twice and still received a huge contract with the Cleveland Browns.
For anyone who brings up “injury risk” with Lamar compared to Watson.
Watson suffered two torn ACLs in his career and still received the full $230 million guaranteed.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) March 30, 2023
Durability is a concern with dual-threat QBs like Jackson and Watson, and the 2022 season saw an unusually large number of signal-callers go down due to injury.
Watson was traded to the Browns the previous off-season, and they immediately signed him to a five-year, $230 million fully-guaranteed contract, making it the largest contract in NFL history.
According to multiple reports, Jackson is seeking a similar contract.
However, an argument can be made that Jackson is not as valuable a quarterback as Watson.
While Jackson won the 2019 regular season MVP after throwing for 3,127 yards and a league-high 36 touchdowns, his productivity has declined when throwing the football.
Watson, on the other hand, led the NFL with 4,823 passing yards while also notching 33 touchdown passes in 2020, his last full season.
One of the oddities of Jackson’s quest for a giant contract is the fact that he serves as his own agent, a rarity in pro sports.
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