Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts recently signed a massive extension, which means that Lamar Jackson could be in line for big contract. However, that might not be too likely, as Jackson and the Ravens are still in a standstill. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the former MVP previously turned down a contract that would have given him anywhere between $175 and $200 million in guaranteed money. Hurts, meanwhile, received $179.3 million in guaranteed cash.
Comparing the #Ravens offer to Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts’ new contract is complicated. But clarity:
Hurts: $179.3M guaranteed for injury.
Lamar: $175M guaranteed for injury.$200M becomes guaranteed for skill, injury, cap in March 2026. So $175M guaranteed, becomes $200M. https://t.co/9De4wVkUcC
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 17, 2023
Report: Lamar Jackson Turned Down $200 Million In Guaranteed Money
The Reported Terms
According to Rapoport’s report, the Ravens offered Lamar Jackson a five-year extension with $175 million guaranteed for injury. If he remained healthy and on the team by March 2026, he’d earn an extra $25 million to bring the grand total of guarantees up to $200 million. We should note that these figures are only referring to the guaranteed portion of the contract – when including incentives, Jackson could have earned as much as $50 million per year.
Quite frankly, this is a pretty fair offer by the Baltimore Ravens, and Lamar Jackson’s unwillingness to sign likely stems from the Deshaun Watson contract. After missing an entire season and with a looming suspension on the way, the Cleveland Browns still decided to give up multiple first-round picks for the right to hand out a massive, $230 million, fully-guaranteed contract. The MVP quarterback appears to be operating under the assumption that deals like this are now the norm for borderline-elite quarterbacks, but the rest of the market does not agree with assessment. In that same year, Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray both signed incentive-laden deals in line with what quarterbacks usually receive.
One could make the argument that Wilson and Murray are not as good as Jackson and Watson, and thus were unable to earn the same type of guaranteed deal. However, now that Jalen Hurts signed a contract that includes incentives, it’s hard to imagine a world where Lamar Jackson ever receives the contract he desires.
Comparing Lamar Jackson To Jalen Hurts
As seen in the tweet above, Hurts’ new contract is very similar to the type of deal that Lamar Jackson already turned down. Frankly, this makes sense that Hurts received this type of offer, as the two quarterbacks are remarkably similar. While neither guy is as good as Patrick Mahomes, they’re both top-10 quarterbacks set to hit the prime of their careers. Every time a quarterback like this signs a new contract, you can bet that the next guy in line is going to reset the market. In this case, it’s safe to assume that Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Lamar Jackson will eventually receive deals that ever so slightly exceed what Jalen Hurts is set to make.
In the case of Lamar Jackson, one could easily argue he’s already seen that offer. If Ian Rapoport is to be believed, Jackson already received a contract for essentially the same amount of guaranteed money ($175-200 million vs $179.3 million) and peak annual value ($50 million vs $51 million for Hurts). Perhaps the Ravens partially revise their offer in the wake of the Jalen Hurts news, but it won’t be substantially larger than that previous figure. Ultimately, if this is what a fellow top-10 quarterback is willing to accept, then Lamar Jackson might need to just accept that the Deshaun Watson contract is an outlier, and the Cleveland Browns are the only team desperate enough to hand out a deal like that.
Main Photo: Tommy Gilligan – USA Today Sports
