Former MVP Lamar Jackson is set to join a new team this summer – don’t hold your breath, teams in need of a quarterback.
The Las Vegas Raiders have decided to move on from Derek Carr, leaving the Silver and Black with a void at QB1. For Raider Nation, this has sparked a great conflict; who does the fanbase want as the team’s next signal caller?
Some are all-in on the thought of Tom Brady, while others prefer Aaron Rodgers or a rookie quarterback. Another popular choice is Lamar Jackson, who, per the New York Post, the Raiders have the fourth-best odds of landing should his time as a Raven end.
But will Jackson’s time in Baltimore truly end this summer? With the way things are shaping up, “no” is starting to look like the answer.
Odds of Lamar Jackson being available this summer are slim-to-none
No matter the lens you want to look through, it seems almost guaranteed Lamar will remain a Raven moving forward.
On Thursday, when asked if he still thought Jackson was the center of the team for “years to come,” John Harbaugh didn’t mince words. “100% — 200%, there’s no question about it,” the long-time Baltimore head coach replied. “Lamar Jackson is our quarterback.”
“I love Lamar, Eric [DeCosta] loves Lamar. I don’t know anything about the details of the whole thing, but I know one thing: I’m like all the fans out there and everybody else. I’ll have my fingers crossed and my toes crossed, and I’ll be saying prayers. I have every faith that it’s going to get done. Eric wants him here, I want him here, Steve [Bisciotti] wants him here, and Lamar wants to be here.”
Some fans may be quick to point out the accuracy of Harbaugh acknowledging that, while he wants Lamar to stick around, he isn’t in charge of handing out contracts. So what does Eric DeCosta, the team’s general manager, have to say about this situation?
Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta is on the same page as Harbaugh when it comes to Jackson
A team’s head coach and general manager is like a marriage; while both are their own entity, they need to be on the same page for things to work out. When it comes to the future of their 26-year-old signal caller, the two men have the exact same thought process – Lamar Jackson is the Ravens’ quarterback.
On Thursday, DeCosta was asked if there’s a chance he might explore a trade in a situation where Lamar is tagged, should the two parties be unable to work out a deal. Like Harbaugh, DeCosta made his intentions clear and precise.
“That’s something that we’re not going to talk about at this point,” DeCosta stated. “I talked to Lamar today, and our focus right now is really to get a long-term deal done; that’s our singular focus at this point.” “I’m confident we’ll be on the right path to get that done,” the team’s general manager added.
If the Ravens are truly all-in on Jackson, why is it taking so long for a deal to happen?
As DeCosta notes, not every process is the same. For some, like Mark Andrews, negotiations last “three or four days.” But for every Mark Andrews there’s a Ronnie Stanley, who DeCosta explained took a year and a half to reach an agreement with. The process with Lamar is simply closer to that of Stanley’s than Andrews’.
Jackson hasn’t spoken on the subject much, but the two-time Pro Bowler did post a picture of his Baltimore jersey on social media this week. DeCosta strongly believes Lamar wants to finish his career as a Raven. If that’s the case, the ship has all but sailed on Lamar Jackson becoming a Raider.
*Top photo: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports