The bombshell arbitration ruling in the NFLPA’s collusion grievance against the NFL regarding fully guaranteed contracts has revealed additional details regarding Lamar Jackson‘s previous negotiations with the Ravens.
Jackson “asked for a fully guaranteed contract” as far back as the 2022 offseason, according to the ruling, though it did not specify if his demand came before or after Deshaun Watson‘s deal with the Browns. Then-NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith also advised Jackson to stick to that demand.
[RELATED: Russell Wilson Asked Broncos For Fully Guaranteed Deal In 2022]
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta testified at the arbitration hearing that he is not opposed to all fully guaranteed contracts, just longer ones with guarantees “pushed out to later years,” due to the risk of injury. As a result, the Ravens extended multiple non-fully guaranteed offers in 2022, but Jackson declined — after having set a pre-Week 1 negotiating deadline — and elected to play on his fifth-year option.
Negotiations resumed the next offseason, but the two sides quickly found themselves at the same impasse. Jackson once again requested a fully guaranteed deal, but missing the end of a second straight season due to injury did not help his case. The Ravens offered “two different three-year contracts that Mr. DeCosta considered to be fully guaranteed,” but Jackson again turned them down and requested a trade. Baltimore then applied the non-exclusive franchise tag to allow Jackson to negotiate a new contract with other teams.
It seemed at the time that Jackson had little chance of leaving Baltimore, and the arbitration ruling arrived at the same conclusion. DeCosta received little trade interest before using the franchise tag, and no teams reached out to Jackson when he was available to negotiate after the tag was applied. The ruling also determined that Jackson “was not actually committed to playing elsewhere” after declining to provide DeCosta with a list of preferred teams after publicly requesting a trade.
The ruling confirmed the previously assumed reasons that other teams did not try to acquire Jackson. DeCosta and Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti testified that the league’s apparent lack of interest in an MVP quarterback was due to the investment his acquisition would require in terms of cash, cap space, and draft picks. The Ravens could also match any offers Jackson received, risking other teams’ relationships with their quarterbacks should they publicly pursue another player and fail. Falcons owner Arthur Blank, whose team publicly announced its disinterest in acquiring Jackson, echoed concerns about cap flexibility and noted Jackson’s injury history as another factor.
Eventually, Jackson agreed to a five-year, $260MM extension shortly before the 2023 NFL Draft, making him the highest-paid quarterback in the league at signing. Interestingly, DeCosta had been preparing for a future without his star quarterback and said that he was surprised when Jackson accepted the offer.
Teams seem to have won the initial battle against fully guaranteed contracts, but Jackson has resumed negotiations with the Ravens ahead of massive scheduled cap hits in 2026 and 2027. After winning his second MVP in 2023 (and nearly a third in 2024), Jackson could renew his push for a fully guaranteed contract, though the team will likely resist such a deal and extend negotiations into 2026.