OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Five years after he fell to the end of the first round, draft day produced a huge payday for Lamar Jackson.
The Baltimore Ravens agreed in principle with Jackson on a five-year deal Thursday, making their 26-year-old quarterback the highest-paid player in NFL history.
The Ravens and Jackson agreed on a $260 million, five-year deal with $185 million in guaranteed money, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract hadn’t been signed.
The deal keeps the 2019 NFL MVP in Baltimore for the foreseeable future and ends a negotiation saga that was dominating the team’s offseason. Jackson’s contract tops the $255 million, five-year deal the Philadelphia Eagles gave Jalen Hurts earlier this month. Hurts, who helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl this past season, received $179.3 million in guarantees.
Deshaun Watson still has the biggest guaranteed contract in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns gave him a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million extension last year to waive his no-trade clause with the Houston Texans and agree to join the team.
The Ravens announced the deal hours before the first round of the NFL draft in Kansas City, Missouri.
“Very excited — it was a long, long process,” general manager Eric DeCosta said. “But family is never easy. We’re thrilled that we were able to get this done.”
After playing out his rookie contract, Jackson’s future with the Ravens was in doubt. They put the franchise tag on him last month yet kept expressing confidence they could keep him — even after Jackson made a trade request public. The team’s tweet announcing the deal included a video of the quarterback talking.
“For the last few months, there’s been a lot of he said, she said, a lot of nail biting, a lot of head scratching going on,” Jackson said. “But for the next five years, it’s a lot of flock going on.”
That was a reference to the term “Ravens Flock” used by the team’s fans.
“Let’s go baby. Let’s go, let’s go,” Jackson added. “Can’t wait to get there, can’t wait to be there. Can’t wait to light up M&T (Bank Stadium) for the next five years, man. Let’s get it.”
It’s an interesting coincidence that Jackson’s new contract was announced on the first day of the NFL draft. Five years ago, he wasn’t one of the top players taken.
Baltimore landed him with the 32nd pick out of Louisville, and the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner was the fifth quarterback chosen. Of the four who went ahead of him, only Josh Allen with the Buffalo Bills has enjoyed pro success comparable to Jackson. Allen signed a long-term deal with the Bills two years ago.
Jackson’s deal brought one of the NFL’s biggest offseason stories to a conclusion just as one of the league’s biggest annual events was about to start. The Ravens can now expect Jackson in the lineup for the first game of the season, without drama about whether he’ll report to camp. They’ve already boosted their wide receivers group by signing Odell Beckham Jr., and they also have a new offensive coordinator after hiring Todd Monken, who helped Georgia win back-to-back College Football Playoff national titles the past two seasons.
Jackson is already one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 rushing. He’s been hurt at the end of the past two seasons, but with Jackson still in his mid-20s, his best days could well be ahead of him — and now he’ll remain in a Baltimore uniform.
Jackson, who was negotiating without an agent, stood to make $32.4 million this season if he played on the franchise tag, but that path had potential pitfalls for both sides. Jackson would have risked losing a lot of money in the long term if he was injured, and even if he stayed healthy, the team might have had an unhappy quarterback on its hands.
Jackson’s contract situation didn’t seem too disruptive last offseason, but it took a different turn when he announced in late March that he’d requested a trade a few weeks earlier. Whether that was out of frustration with the process or an attempt to draw more interest from other teams, Jackson and the Ravens now appear to be very much on the same page.