Lamar Jackson Rumors: Ravens Debating Which Franchise Tag to Use If No New Contract

As the Baltimore Ravens continue to negotiate a long-term contract with Lamar Jackson, the clock is also ticking on them to use the franchise tag to ensure their star quarterback doesn't hit free agency.

Appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN's Adam Schefter said the Ravens will use the franchise tender on Jackson, but they are still debating whether to use the the exclusive or non-exclusive tag:

"If they place the exclusive $45-plus million franchise tag on Lamar Jackson, no other teams would be allowed to negotiate with Lamar Jackson. There are people in the Ravens organization who believe that the exclusive tag that would block other teams if the tag that should be used. But the Ravens are still debating the decision. They have not reached a conclusion and they will continue to try to get that long-term deal done with Lamar, and if they can't, they'll place the franchise tag on him."

The biggest issue between Jackson and the Ravens seems to be over guaranteed money.

ESPN's Jamison Hensley reported Wednesday the 2019 NFL MVP wants a fully guaranteed deal in the range of the five-year, $230 million contract Deshaun Watson got from the Cleveland Browns.

Hensley noted the Ravens are "reluctant" to make that offer to Jackson because they feel Watson's deal is "more of an outlier than a precedent."

There are some key differences between the two franchise tags available to the Ravens. The value of the exclusive tag for quarterbacks won't be determined until April, but CBS Sports' Joel Corry projects it to be worth $45.25 million.

The exclusive tag means Jackson is only allowed to negotiate with the Ravens. The non-exclusive tag for quarterbacks is worth $32.4 million in 2023, but Jackson is allowed to negotiate with other teams.

If Jackson signed an offer sheet with another team, Baltimore would have five days to match the deal. If the Ravens elected not to match, they would receive two first-round draft picks from the signing team as compensation.

In addition to Jackson's contract situation, there seem to be other problems with the Ravens. Rashod Bateman had to delete a tweet that called out general manager Eric DeCosta, who made comments about the team's lack of success in finding playmakers at wide receiver.

Even though Bateman deleted his original tweet, he still has this retweet up on his page that is critical of the Ravens' strength coaches following a report card from the NFLPA that gave their strength coaches the worst grade in the league.

Speaking to reporters this week at the NFL Scouting Combine, DeCosta said not having a contract worked out with Jackson has been "a wrench" in their plans.

"You don't know. It slows you up a little bit," he explained. "It does kind of create a little bit of a haze as to what the future is going to look like with your roster. There are some things that we're not going to do right now that maybe we would try to do [if the deal were done]."

Head coach John Harbaugh noted the team does have "four, five or six different plans" in place depending on what happens with Jackson before the start of free agency.

Jackson has been the Ravens' starting quarterback for the past five seasons. He threw for 2,242 yards, ran for 764 yards and accounted for 20 touchdowns in 12 starts during the 2022 campaign.

The deadline for teams to use the franchise tag is March 7.