OWINGS MILLS, Md. — What had been more than two years in the making finally made it across the finish line on Thursday.
Hours before the start of the NFL draft, the Ravens announced an agreement on a five-year contract with superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson through the 2027 season, ending an exhausting negotiation full of twists and turns as well as frustration for both sides. According to multiple outlets, the deal is worth $260 million with $185 million in total guarantees, making the unanimous 2019 NFL MVP the highest-paid player in NFL history, an honor that had been assumed by Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts only last week. Hurts signed a five-year contract worth $255 million and nearly $180 million guaranteed that runs through the 2028 season, but it was the latest example of a top-shelf quarterback not receiving a full guarantee at signing like the five-year, $230 million contract Deshaun Watson inked with Cleveland last offseason, the kind of arrangement Jackson had reportedly been seeking.
“We’re very excited. It was a long, long process, but family is never easy,” general manager Eric DeCosta said in a video released by the team. “We’re thrilled that we were able to get this done.”
Eight weeks to the day that Jackson had requested a trade from the Ravens, the 2018 first-round pick out of Louisville instead committed for the long run. Despite Jackson making his March 2 trade request public on Twitter 3 1/2 weeks later, his public stance toward the organization appeared to soften on Easter Sunday when he posted an image of his FaceTime call with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. hours after the three-time Pro Bowl selection agreed to a one-year, $15 million contract with Baltimore.
The terms of the Hurts contract seemingly pushed the sides in the right direction of finally consummating a deal.
“For the last few months, there’s been a lot of ‘he said, she said,’ a lot of nail-biting, a lot of head-scratching going on,” Jackson said in a video released by the team. “But for the next five years, there’s a lot of ‘Flock’ going on. Let’s go, baby. Can’t wait to get there. Can’t wait to be there. Can’t wait to light up M&T [Bank Stadium] for the next five years, man. Let’s get it.”
We’ve agreed in principle on a 5-year contract extension with QB @Lj_era8‼️
😈😈😈😈 pic.twitter.com/tQj1Rzqcha
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The electric Jackson, 26, has made two Pro Bowls with Baltimore qualifying for the playoffs in four of five seasons since he took over as the starting quarterback midway through his rookie campaign, but he had missed the conclusion of each of the last two seasons due to injury. Still, DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh stated all along that the organization’s goal was to sign Jackson to a long-term deal, a task that wasn’t made easy by his lack of a certified agent to negotiate on his behalf. But perseverance from each side paid off in the end.
The dual-threat Jackson has thrown 101 touchdowns and rushed for 24 touchdowns over his five-year career with the Ravens going a superb 45-16 in his 61 starts.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound quarterback led the most prolific regular season in franchise history in 2019 as Baltimore finished an NFL-best 14-2, scored a team-record 531 points, and rushed for a league-record 3,296 yards. Jackson led the NFL with 36 touchdowns and rushed for a whopping 1,206 yards — a new NFL mark for a quarterback — in that historic campaign that resulted in the first league MVP award in Ravens history.
