The Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson are currently negotiating a contract extension as they approach the 2026 league year. While Jackson is technically under contract through 2027, his current deal has reached a point that is financially unsustainable for the team’s salary cap.
The two-time NFL MVP has a $74.5 million salary cap hit each for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. This accounts for nearly 24% of the entire team’s salary cap, making it nearly impossible for the Ravens to sign free agents or retain key players like Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum.
NFL analyst Colin Cowherd took a dig at the Ravens quarterback for complicating things on “The Herd With Colin Cowherd” show on Friday.
“I’ve always been a huge Ravens fan and a big Lamar supporter. But just to give you an idea, I said yesterday, the Ravens are done being a Super Bowl bubble team. There’s no possible way with what they’re gonna pay him. The Ravens are out of the Super Bowl discussion with this new contract,“ Cowherd said.
Cowherd explained that the Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, can pay Sam Darnold, JSN, Devin Witherspoon, Nick Omenwory, the safety, Gray Zabel, and Demarcus Lawrence, and still have $3 million left over from Jackson’s cap hit.
The NFL analyst added that they also have to pay their all-world center, which sort of matters for a quarterback.
I’ve always been a big fan of Lamar Jackson, but between his mom acting as his agent and his refusal to do offseason camps, the mystery injuries, and let’s be honest, the need to be the highest-paid quarterback. That’s the thing he wants to be. It started to feel like, honestly, a little Kawhi Leonard, where you’re like, Mercurial mystery family to involve maybe.” Cowherd said.
Cowherd also pointed out that there are stories about Jackson falling asleep during meetings because he’s playing late-night video games. The analyst went on to say that John Harbaugh dodged a bullet by parting ways with the Ravens.
Ravens GM Eric DeCosta on Lamar Jackson Contract Negotiations
The Ravens plan on keeping the negotiations in-house. However, the franchise revealed that they aim to find a middle ground before the free agency.
“Lamar and I have an agreement [that] we handle business kind of in-house internally,” DeCosta said. “That worked well for us the last time and we will continue to have that policy moving forward. I have spoken to Lamar about a lot of different things over the last month. He’s been very engaged. … We’ll continue those conversations moving forward.”
DeCosta also added that they never have as much cap space as they would like when asked if Jackson plays a massive role in the team’s offseason goals. NFL Free Agency is set to begin on March 11. Baltimore would like to get things sorted before that.
