NFL insider offers a promising Lamar Jackson update — but quietly leaves the door cracked for some offseason funny business
This is a promising update…I think.
The Lamar Jackson buzz is back. The Baltimore Ravens have enjoyed a rest from the speculation over the past several seasons — but here we are once again. As we enter into the 2026 offseason, Jackson is once again aspiring to sign a contract extension, the Ravens are in a position in which his contract will need to be addressed in some way, shape, or form, and the reporting buzz indicates not all is swell under the surface.
Baltimore has been here before. And ultimately, at the end of the day, the star quarterback got his contract and the Ravens got more MVP play. With the Ravens pressing for a playoff berth this weekend, NFL insider Albert Breer offered some insight on the latest buzz about Jackson as this offseason lingers.
Albert Breer offers reassuring update on Lamar Jackson & the Ravens — but ‘a lot of things can happen’
“I think the Ravens’ intention is to go forward with Lamar Jackson as their quarterback. They don’t know how the contract situation is going to play out over the next four or five months. They also don’t know what teams are going to call them. And they don’t need to put Lamar on the block. Right? If any of these teams…sniff around and smell that Lamar Jackson and the Ravens might now be on the same page and there’s trouble in paradise, there’s nothing stopping those teams from picking up the phone and calling the Ravens and saying ‘hey, how about two first round picks, how about three first round picks?’. That kind of stuff can happen organically. I don’t think it’s the Ravens’ strategy or plan to go out there and move on from Lamar after this season as we go into the offseason, but a lot of things can happen when a contract negotiation is looming.”
— Monday Morning Quarterback’s Albert Breer on The Rich Eisen Show
The mechanics of a Lamar Jackson trade are complicated. He owns a full no-trade clause in the most recent contract that he signed with the Ravens. He’s owed over $50 million in cash in each of the next two seasons — meaning teams looking to inquire about his services are going to need to:
– Pass Jackson’s personal sniff test to waive the no-trade clause
– Have the cash and cap on-hand to onboard his existing contract before giving him a new deal
– Have the draft capital necessary to appease what Baltimore would need to justify the move.
Good luck with all that. That isn’t to say that we couldn’t see something crazy happen. It’s the NFL and crazy things happen every year. But this just feels like a lot of starts that would need to align. The Ravens would be wise to at least hear out any phone calls that are placed. But they’re also wise to continue to have Jackson in their plans and act accordingly as they need to.
Lamar Jackson’s remaining contract terms
- Under contract through end of the 2027 season
- Owed $52 million in cash in each of the next two seasons
- Full n0-trade clause
- Cannot be franchise tagged in 2028
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