Lamar Jackson trade request increases Bengals' chances to stay atop AFC North
Quarterback Lamar Jackson's time with the Baltimore Ravens may be coming to an end. Jackson announced via his Twitter than he requested a trade from the Ravens on March 2nd. This is huge for several obvious reasons. Star quarterbacks rarely make trade requests, let alone publicly on their own accord. Jackson is a unique case […]
Quarterback Lamar Jackson's time with the Baltimore Ravens may be coming to an end.
Jackson announced via his Twitter than he requested a trade from the Ravens on March 2nd.
This is huge for several obvious reasons. Star quarterbacks rarely make trade requests, let alone publicly on their own accord. Jackson is a unique case considering how things got to this point.
Baltimore placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson on March 7th, five days after Jackson said he made the request. This followed a year of both sides negotiating a long-term deal. Per the former MVP quarterback, Jackson turned down a three-year, $133 million fully guaranteed deal. It's believed to be how much guaranteed money was included in the Ravens' five-year offer that Jackson turned down before last year.
NFL teams have been quiet regarding interest in Jackson. The minimum compensation required to trade for Jackson is two first-round picks, and the Ravens can match any offer given to him.
Plenty of teams could upgrade at quarterback with Jackson, and the Ravens would likely want to trade him to an NFC team.
That's fantastic news for the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Ravens have been the Bengals' most competitive AFC North opponent in the last two years. If Jackson is out of the picture, it widens the gap between the back-to-back division champions, and the three teams chasing them.
And even if Jackson isn't traded, the relationship between him and the Ravens seems destroyed at this point. Will he even play under the franchise tag? Does he want to continue negotiating for a long-term deal with them?
This all seems to be heading towards a divorce, leaving the rest of the AFC North smiling.
