Lamar Jackson has opened up a bit on social media as the Ravens, and he approaches his Week One deadline for reaching a long-term agreement.
Jackson gave some suggestions about what he might search for in his responses to Twitter fans who commented on his status. He also appears to be seeking a fully guaranteed contract in the vein of Deshaun Watson.
Jackson responded to a commenter who suggested that the Ravens give him $250 million guaranteed by saying, "No they didn't," to which another user retorted, "They already promised that, and Jackson wants more."
Jackson said, "You don't love Lamar," in response to another user who remarked, "As much as I love Lamar, a 100% guaranteed deal would be poor business."
Jackson hasn't received a $250 million fully guaranteed offer from the Ravens. Owner of the Ravens Steve Bisciotti publicly complained about the situation when the Browns paid Watson $230 million.
Jackson didn't explicitly state it, but his two tweets make it clear that he wants a completely guaranteed contract, much to Bisciotti's dismay.
He ought should. Jackson plays the position riskier than other quarterbacks, even though contracts for franchise quarterbacks are rarely terminated early. There is a genuine bodily risk for him. He could be freed if there were no guarantees.
And although the Watson transaction can be brushed aside by the Ravens as an outlier, it can be referred to as a new high-water record, which is often what ground-breaking contracts are. The folks in charge of the purse strings always prefer to dismiss a contract that changes the market as an accident rather than a trend. Of course, they do, after all. And given that the Cardinals successfully did that with Kyler Murray, the Ravens might be more willing to stick with Jackson.
Suppose Lamar is willing to take the chance of rejecting whatever the Ravens are willing to offer and playing for $23 million this year with no guarantees for 2023 and beyond. In that case, he has every right to demand a fully-guaranteed contract. There won't be a new contract in Baltimore this year or perhaps ever if he's willing to do that.
That contract might eventually come from another team. Lamar Jackson's desire to play for the Dolphins is comparable to a Baltimore native's desire to play for the Ravens, according to a comment about him. However, Jackson responded, "I grew up a Dallas fan, but Dolphins were second no doubt."
He could have said, "I'm a Raven for life," for example. He refused. And everything that might follow from that.
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