Lamar Jackson and the Ravens finally have a deal. Here’s what the Baltimore Sun staff had to say immediately after the team agreed in principle to a five-year contract with the star quarterback on Thursday.
Childs Walker, reporter: The Ravens made a move that will eclipse anything they do in the draft and set up the immediate future of their franchise when they signed Lamar Jackson to a five-year extension Thursday.
We still don’t know what nudged the process forward after more than a year of difficult negotiations and a trade request from Jackson. But it seems Jalen Hurts’ recent $255 million deal with the Eagles gave the Ravens a target to beat, and their move to sign wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. did not hurt. If a reported $260 million is the number, the Ravens and Jackson compromised on a deal that’s good for both player and team.
Meanwhile, Ravens fans will exhale en masse and get back to celebrating Jackson as the next in a line of transcendent Baltimore athletes, and a team that’s built to contend for a Super Bowl will go into offseason workouts with a happy, energized centerpiece. The Ravens were not going to be a stable team as long as Jackson’s extension impasse hovered above everything. Now, they can focus on trying to win that championship Jackson promised the day he was drafted, five years ago.
C.J. Doon, editor: The timing of this news is pretty stunning, but should it be? The draft always felt like a deadline for the Ravens and Jackson to make a commitment. Baltimore could have traded the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player to a team near the top of the draft and taken a quarterback, resetting their franchise clock with a cheap rookie deal and filling out the rest of the roster. Jackson could have ended up wearing a Colts or Texans uniform at the end of the night, for all we know. Instead, both sides got what they wanted, with Jackson reportedly becoming the NFL’s new highest-paid player on a per-year basis and the Ravens locking in their face of the franchise through 2027.
Tim Schwartz, editor: There was a buzz that something would happen with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens on draft night, and it turns out everyone gets what they wanted. Jackson gets his money, the Ravens get their quarterback and the city of Baltimore gets to keep its icon. The money is astounding for a guy with one playoff win, but this move keeps the fan base happy and the team competitive for the short term. Jackson needs to prove he can win in the playoffs now that this saga has led to a massive contract, but for now, this feels like a win for all sides who had something at stake.
()