RAVENS EXTEND LAMAR JACKSON, PICK ZAY FLOWERS ON DAY ONE
The Baltimore Ravens are great at drafting players. That bit is certain considering the team’s deep-rooted history of acquiring impact players via the NFL Draft. The team acquired two Hall of Fame players with their first ever couple of picks as a franchise in 1996, drafting offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden and linebacker Ray Lewis, and never looked back.
The Ravens carried on their franchise-long tradition of winning at the draft this year, announcing that they had reached an extension agreement with quarterback Lamar Jackson on day one of the draft, only hours before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell took the stage in Kansas City.
Just 10 days after Jalen Hurts signed a huge five-year, $255 million extension with the Philadelphia Eagles to become the highest-paid player in the league, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is now extended and officially the highest paid player in the NFL. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Baltimore stepped up and offered Jackson a deal that trumped Hurts’ once the 2023 NFC Champion agreed to his new deal.
As per CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson, the new deal is a five-year, $260 million contract, with $185 million in total guarantees and keeps Jackson in Baltimore through the 2027 season. The deal makes Jackson the highest-paid player in NFL history on a per-year basis at $52 million and is also the most lucrative contract ever negotiated in league history without official representation. Lamar Jackson negotiated the deal without an agent and by doing it himself, the 26-year-old quarterback is expected to save between $2.6 million and $7.8 million in agent fees.
The extension took almost two years to get done, to which General Manager Eric DeCosta said, “Sometimes you just need time. Like I said… sometimes these things can happen in two weeks and sometimes it takes two years. This [extension] was on that scale.”
“I know that our appreciation and love for Lamar [Jackson] has really never wavered,” continued DeCosta. “But it was business as well. I said today and I feel that way. Sometimes with family things can get tough, right? And we all feel that sometimes. You’re in a fight with your parents, or a sibling or you’re trying to figure something out and it’s like the emotion of it. There was definitely some emotion.”
“In the end, we have been blessed to have Lamar as part of this organization for a long time. We’ve won a lot of football games. I think he feels this place is special too. It’s business. It wasn’t personal and I think over time that’s kind of what developed.”
Jackson announced late last month that he had submitted a trade request to the Ravens after being frustrated with the lack of progress on getting an extension done.
While the extension took roughly two years to come to fruition, General Manager Eric DeCosta revealed on Thursday that the Ravens had offered Jackson five or six different proposals for an extension, with neither side coming to a consensus. DeCosta reiterated, however, that the Ravens feel that Lamar Jackson is the best quarterback in the NFL, and thus the contract reflects that.
Jackson’s deal eases the pressure on the Ravens’ cap number, which might help the team in its rebuilding in both player acquisition and the draft. Jackson’s 2023 cap number before the extension was $32.4 million but that is expected to be reduced significantly, and the Ravens intend to use that cap space.
Hours after news of Jackson’s deal went public, the Baltimore Ravens drafted one of the best wide receiver prospects in this year’s draft with the number 22 overall pick, selecting Zay Flowers out of Boston College. Expected by many to be off the board by the time the Ravens were on the clock, Flowers was a surprise pick for Ravens fans.
The BCU wide receiver is a certified playmaker at the position and Baltimore was given an almost consensus “A+” draft grade by most analysts for getting him at 22.
Flowers can run every route and did so exceptionally in college, creating separation and accumulating yards after the catch. The Florida-born wideout was the no.1 wide receiver prospect on many draft boards but was instead the third wide receiver to get drafted, behind Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba and TCU’s Quentin Johnston who went to the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Chargers respectively.
“The Ravens were thin at receiver, and the electrifying Flowers happened to fall in their laps,” wrote The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman. “It seems to happen every year in Baltimore, and it did this year, too.”
Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta said on Thursday night that Flowers was by far the highest graded prospect out of a group of eight players assigned to all of the organization’s scouts last week. DeCosta said the 21-year-old receiver passed every single test during his interviews on his visit and at the Combine in March.
“He’s just an explosive, competitive, tough guy who can play outside and he can play inside,” said DeCosta. “We’re very happy for him and for the Ravens. We think he fits what we’re going to do with Todd [Monken] and just with the personnel that we have very well. It was a great day.”
By the end of the night, DeCosta also revealed that they fielded some calls for a trade regarding the number 22 pick, calls which they turned down to pick the Fort Lauderdale-born receiver. “As we looked at other positions,” said DeCosta. “We just felt like, for us, passing up on Zay [Flowers] to get a couple extra picks was probably not the smartest thing to do.”
While the Baltimore Ravens have been one of the most talked about teams in the NFL in recent months due to Jackson’s contract situation and their lack of an elite wide receiver room, their recent run of success could flip the narrative in Maryland heading into training camp.
The Ravens improved at the draft by securing Jackson’s future with the team and adding a playmaker at wide receiver. Baltimore’s offense on paper now looks like one of the more well rounded units the club has fielded in some time. The team’s starting offense now includes;
- QB Lamar Jackson
- LT Ronnie Stanley
- LG Ben Cleveland
- C Tyler Linderbaum
- RG Kevin Zeitler
- RT Morgan Moses
- TE Mark Andrews
- WR Odell Beckham Jr.
- WR Rashod Bateman
- WR Zay Flowers
- RB JK Dobbins
The club also added Clemson LB Trenton Simpson, EDGE rusher Tavius Robinson out of Ole Miss, Stanford CB Kyu Blu Kelly, Oregon OT Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, and USC G Andrew Vorhees before the draft concluded.
Voorhees is an intriguing prospect as he was largely considered a top 100 player heading into the Draft, but unfortunately suffered an ACL tear at the NFL Combine. With the former Trojan set to miss significant time as he recovers, he’s largely viewed as a project at this point.
That being said, should he return to his pre-injury form, then Baltimore grabbing him at pick number 229 could be a steal down the line.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Au Kirk. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.