Lamar Jackson Rumors: Ravens QB's Mother 'Not Involved' in Contract Negotiations
July 4, 2021
Despite reports to the contrary, Lamar Jackson is not using his mother to negotiate his contract extension with the Baltimore Ravens.
"She may be advising him, but she’s not negotiating with the Ravens," Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk reported of Jackson's mother, Felicia Jones.
The quarterback has never had a formal agent, as Jones negotiated Jackson's rookie deal after he was a first-round pick in 2018. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said on the Pat McAfee Show recently that she still acts as his "business manager" (warning: NSFW language):
Pat McAfee @PatMcAfeeShow"It is a lot of pressure, unbelievably difficult. The stakes are incredibly high because if you lock yourself into a bad deal you could cost yourself 10s of millions of dollars"<a href="https://twitter.com/RapSheet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RapSheet</a> on Lamar Jackson & negotiating a contract extenstion without an agent <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PatMcAfeeShowLIVE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PatMcAfeeShowLIVE</a> <a href="https://t.co/qaaQM6IlZj">pic.twitter.com/qaaQM6IlZj</a>
According to Florio, Jackson has a lot of advisers but no single certified agent negotiating on his behalf.
Jackson is under contract for two more seasons after the Ravens exercised the fifth-year option. He will have a $3 million cap hit in 2021, which balloons to $23 million in 2022, per Spotrac.
The 24-year-old is eligible for a long-term extension this offseason, however, which could end up being the biggest deal of his career.
Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes notably signed a 10-year, $503 million contract last offseason when he was first eligible.
Like Mahomes, Jackson also earned an NFL MVP award in his second season in the NFL. The Ravens star has been one of the top dual-threat players in the league, totaling 5,884 passing yards and 62 passing touchdowns to go with 2,211 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns over the last two years.
Baltimore also has a 24-6 regular-season record with Jackson under center during this stretch.
It could lead to a big new deal for the quarterback, but the nontraditional style of negotiations could create major question marks.
According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the NFL players association has "tried to assist to no avail."