Owings Mills, MD — lamar jackson Officially signed his five-year, $260 million contract on Thursday, setting NFL records for signing bonus, three-year cash flow and average per season.
But Jackson revealed he has a more ambitious number in mind in this revamp. crows Crime.
Jackson laughed and said, “With the weapons we have, I want to throw 6,000 yards.” “I’m not a personal award-type person or a stat watcher. I just want to do this because nobody’s done it and I think we have the weapons to do it.”
Jackson has never passed 3,200 yards in a season, but he is clearly excited that Baltimore is building the strongest wide receiver group of his career. ravens signed odell beckham jr, And Nelson Aghoral in free agency, then drafted Jay Flowers with the No. 22 overall pick.
The final step to the Ravens’ passing attack was the long-term signing of Jackson. According to one source, he set a league high in signing bonus ($72.5 million), the most money ($156 million) and average per season ($52 million) in the first three years of the deal. A source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Jackson also received the no-franchise-tag and no-trade clauses.
The deal wrapped up 27 months of challenging negotiations between the Ravens and Jackson, who did not have an agent and represented himself. Jackson declined to talk about the trade request he made in Baltimore in early March, saying he wanted to focus on his draft-day promise to deliver the championship to the Ravens.
“I didn’t really care about other teams, I wanted to be here. I want to be a Raven,” Jackson said. “I said something in 2018 and I meant it. I wanted to get it done before my time [is] up and [I] branch off elsewhere. I really want to finish my career here and win a Super Bowl here.”
Jackson demanded more than $230 million in guaranteed money at the quarterback. Deshaun Watson receive from cleveland browns But the Ravens insisted last year that Watson’s deal was an outlier and not a precedent, according to sources.
a source said Jalan HeartsThe deal, which included $179.5 million guaranteed, reinforced the market value for the quarterback. There was also the possibility of Baltimore drafting a quarterback in the first round, which would likely have ended contract negotiations with Jackson.
So, two days before the draft last week, Jackson wrote to Ravens general manager Eric De Costa that he liked the language of the Ravens’ final contract offer and felt they could make a deal.
Jackson said, “I absolutely wanted to get it done because I was tired of going back and forth about it.” “We’ve been doing it for years, but it was like the time had come. The numbers were right, and we were all satisfied.”
Jackson, 26, replaced the Ravens with the last pick of the first round in the 2018 draft, leading Baltimore to the playoffs in his first three seasons. He was the unanimous selection for NFL MVP in 2019, when he led the league in touchdown passes (36) and set the record for most rushing yards by a quarterback (1,206).
His career record of 45–16 (.738) is the fourth best of any starting quarterback debuting in the Super Bowl era. Baltimore was 8-13 (.381) without him over the past five seasons.
While Ravens executives repeatedly remained optimistic that they would sign Jackson, they acknowledged that the franchise held heavy negotiations.
“There were some dark days,” DeCosta said. “I mean I’m not going to lie to you and say every day was great, it’s been a long stretch. But we know Lamar, we know the kind of person he is and he’s a extraordinary football player. But you don’t make a phenomenal football player the highest paid player in the league. You make a phenomenal football player who is also an extraordinary person the highest paid player in the league. And so, We were very confident that it was the right thing to do.”
DeCosta complimented Jackson on how he represented himself in negotiations, calling him “enduring, demanding, honest and straightforward”. But there were times when the parties did not talk.
“It wasn’t always easy,” DeCosta said. “I thought I would deal with the player Lamar Jackson, but in the end, it was just Lamar and I talking, texting, trying to get each other a deal.”
Jackson is signed through 2027, but the sides may have to renegotiate the deal after the 2025 season when his salary-cap figure reaches $74.5 million. He plans to continue representing himself in the future.
Jackson said, “I won’t trust anyone but myself.”
Jackson still has a lot to achieve. He’s 1-3 in the playoffs, and has rebounded as a passer the past two seasons (33 touchdowns and 20 interceptions). Jackson has also missed 10 of Baltimore’s last 22 games due to the injury, although he said he is fully recovered from his season-ending knee injury as of a month ago.
But, after signing his record deal, he felt a sense of accomplishment in going from a highly scrutinized quarterback prospect in 2018 to the NFL’s highest-paid player in 2018.
“It’s just proving itself right,” Jackson said. “It’s about believing in yourself at the end of the day. It didn’t matter what I was doing, it didn’t matter if my back was against the wall, when people doubted me more than ever.” I put my faith in him, and here we are now.”
