Lamar Jackson has broken his silence amid his contract and franchise tag showdown with the Baltimore Ravens.
The 26-year-old former MVP quote-tweeted a statistic from Hard Rock Sportsbook, which listed Jackson in a group of legendary quarterbacks that started their careers with a 96-plus passer rating and over 100 touchdowns in their first 61 career starts – Patrick Mahomes, Dan Marino, Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson.
“Lamar isn’t a running QB. He’s a great QB that can run,” the tweet read.
“Great company,” Lamar wrote in his quote tweet, along with a heart emoji.
Jackson is clearly trying to make his case for a massive contract extension as he faces a staredown with the Ravens – and the rest of the NFL – after Baltimore placed him on the non-exclusive franchise tag earlier in the week, allowing him to negotiate with other teams as he seeks a long-term deal.
Per the terms of the tag, the Ravens have the ability to match whatever offer Jackson gets on the open market.
Jackson is acting without an agent, and reportedly wants a fully-guaranteed deal similar to what Deshaun Watson got with the Browns in the 2021-22 offseason.
Negotiations with the Ravens – the team for which he won the MVP in 2019 and has led to the playoffs in four of his five seasons – appeared to get contentious near the end of his rookie deal, leading the team to make the move of applying the non-exclusive tag instead of the traditional franchise tag.
Surprisingly, there hasn’t appeared to be much interest in the star QB; officials from multiple teams, including the Falcons, Commanders, Panthers and Dolphins, told reporters that they would not be pursuing Jackson when the tag news came down.
Jackson clearly believes he deserves the fully-guaranteed deal, but NFL owners are clearly not fans of the idea, with Watson’s deal setting a precedent that league decision-makers are not thrilled by.
The NFLPA has reportedly been concerned that NFL owners are colluding to suppress Jackson’s market, as to not have fully-guaranteed contracts become the norm.