Ravens GM remains 'hopeful' to sign Lamar Jackson long-term

The Baltimore Ravens proceed to activity toward a statement hold pinch prima backmost Lamar Jackson, an enactment that has kept nan team’s instrumentality guidelines biting their nails successful anticipation.

Both sides are saying bully things astir nan other, trusting nan process will consequence successful thing that they tin work together on. But location has been nary denotation arsenic to erstwhile that will happen, and pinch free agency 2 weeks away, nan Ravens would for illustration to hammer thing retired truthful that they tin get to their free-agent crippled plan.

That’s why GM Eric DeCosta took nan podium astatine nan NFL Scouting Combine successful Indianapolis connected Wednesday while knowing that his questions weren’t going to beryllium astir nan NFL Draft prospects.

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Lamar Jackson #8 of nan Baltimore Ravens carries nan shot defended by Rayshawn Jenkins #2 of nan Jacksonville Jaguars during nan first half astatine TIAA Bank Field connected November 27, 2022 successful Jacksonville, Florida. (Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)

Instead, he discussed Jackson first and foremost.

"You can’t triumph successful this convention without a beardown quarterback. That’s been proven. So, we want Lamar here," DeCosta said.

Head coach John Harbaugh has consistently backed Jackson’s talent and activity astatine nan backmost position for this team, and he did truthful again Wednesday.

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"He’s my quarterback, he’s my guy. I emotion him," Harbaugh said. "As a coach, I’m looking guardant to seeing it get done. But it’s not easy. It’s ne'er easy. It’s nan business portion of it. But I’m really hopeful and excited."

What nan Ravens would for illustration to avoid, if possible, is franchise-tagging Jackson. There are 2 abstracted options: nan exclusive tag, which doesn’t let teams to talk to him, and nan non-exclusive, which has nan other effect. The non-exclusive would let nan Ravens to lucifer immoderate connection Jackson gets from different squad aliases person 2 first-round picks for letting him go.

Nov 7, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Baltimore Ravens backmost Lamar Jackson (8) scrambles against nan New Orleans Saints during nan first half astatine Caesars Superdome. (Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports)

"We’re hopeful to get a woody done pinch Lamar earlier that happens," DeCosta said. "But sure, they’re large numbers. We’ve known they're large numbers. We're prepared for that. We person 4 aliases 5 aliases six different plans based connected what happens complete nan adjacent 10 days."

Those numbers DeCosta mentioned depends connected which tag nan Ravens could use. One would deliberation Baltimore would deed Jackson pinch nan exclusive tag, which would beryllium astir $46 cardinal for 1 twelvemonth (average of nan apical 5 salaries astatine nan position for 2023).

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Baltimore would person until July to activity retired an hold if a tag is used.

While that’s an option, arsenic DeCosta said, nan Ravens will proceed moving pinch Jackson to robust thing out.

Baltimore Ravens backmost Lamar Jackson (8) during nan crippled betwixt nan Baltimore Ravens and nan Jacksonville Jaguars connected November 27, 2022 astatine TIAA Bank Field successful Jacksonville, Fla. (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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The adjacent is ticking, though. The franchise tag model is March 7. If Jackson isn’t tagged, he will go an unrestricted free agent.