OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta smiled when asked how good he feels about new head coach Jesse Minter at the end of his first training camp and preseason.
“Well, that’s a softball,” the general manager quipped. “What am I going to say? He’s terrible?”
A similar sentiment could have been expressed when DeCosta was asked how optimistic he is about reaching a long-term contract extension with quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is in the penultimate year of his deal and scheduled to carry an untenable $84.34 million salary cap number in 2027. The 29-year-old also has clauses in his contract prohibiting a trade without his permission or the use of the franchise tag, meaning he has all the leverage whenever contract talks do take place. It’s also not a secret that Jackson doesn’t have a certified agent, which further complicate discussions at times.
“I think I’m optimistic,” said DeCosta before reiterating his long-held position of not discussing negotiations publicly. “I feel good about it.”
Of course, it’s been nearly eight months since owner Steve Bisciotti expressed urgency about extending the two-time NFL MVP to lower his cap number for 2026 and keep him in Baltimore well into his 30s. DeCosta and the Ravens had to settle for a simple contract restructure in March, which amounted to kicking the can — which contains an even greater cap number now — down the road.
To be clear, none of this is to suggest the sides won’t eventually come together to get a deal done as they did in the spring of 2023 when Jackson signed a five-year, $260 million contract to become the NFL’s then-highest-paid quarterback and conclude a multiyear saga that included a trade request and a collusion grievance from the NFL Players Association. By all accounts, Jackson seems reinvigorated working with Minter and new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, which should help at the negotiating table as long as the 2026 campaign goes smoothly for all parties.
But no matter how much the most optimistic fans don’t want to admit it, the contract remains an issue until it’s not anymore, and there are any number of ways a season can go awry, which would further muddy the future. At the very least, it’s not ideal to have every week’s result interpreted as a referendum on Jackson’s future and his desire to remain in Baltimore.
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“We’ve dealt with that distraction before,” DeCosta said. “There’s only so much we can do. That’s what I would say on that.”
Positivity is the only choice.
Madubuike “right on track”
The Ravens didn’t put two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike on injured reserve, which would have sidelined him for the first four games and would have taken him off the practice field as he returns from last year’s career-threatening neck injury.
That doesn’t mean Madubuike will be ready for the Sept. 13 opener in Indianapolis as Minter was noncommittal when asked Monday whether the standout defensive lineman would finally participate in full-team work for the first time this week. Despite being on the field for the first day of training camp , Madubuike primarily worked out on a side field with members of the strength and training staff until he finally began hitting the sled and taking part in positional group work in late August.
“Those guys have done a great job working with Nnamdi with this ramp-up, which is probably a little longer of a ramp-up than you’d see in some instances,” DeCosta said Wednesday. “We feel like he’s right on track. Today was a good day. I think he’s been building every single day, and I’m encouraged. I’m as encouraged now as I’ve ever been about Nnamdi.”
When might we see Madubuike if it’s not likely to be Week 1?
8“I think the fact that we didn’t put him on IR means that we would expect him to be able to contribute sooner than,” DeCosta said. “I’m probably more bullish on that right now than I even have been. We feel really good about it. I’m pretty confident he’ll be back on the field playing for us before the fourth game.”
“Disappointed” in Bateman legal matter
Asked about wide receiver Rashod Bateman’s legal matter and whether he’s gotten a sense of when potential discipline from the NFL might come, DeCosta couldn’t hide some disenchantment.
“It’s obviously something that we’re very disappointed about that we have to deal with these kind of things right now,” DeCosta said. “It’s a little bit of a distraction at some points, but we made a statement. We knew about it right away. We contacted the league right away, spoke to the league. The league has been doing an investigation as well as, I suppose, the authorities. In these matters, we just really kind of sit back and wait for the league and for the authorities to kind of tell us what’s going on. We’ll wait. We have no indication how long that’s going to take.
“We feel like we’ve got a young group of receivers, but I think a group of receivers that we’re excited about — a bunch of guys that can make plays. We’re excited about that. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Three NFL players with serious legal situations — Seattle’s Terrion Arnold, Denver’s Jonathon Cooper, and Green Bay’s Josh Jacobs — were recently placed on the commissioner’s exempt list, which is a designation that essentially serves as a softer on-field suspension with pay while potential violations of the league’s personal conduct policy are reviewed.
