Even as the Ravens’ contract negotiations with Lamar Jackson drag on, with general manager Eric DeCosta saying Wednesday that the team will work “at Lamar’s urgency,” the quarterback’s unsettled future in Baltimore isn’t expected to affect his offseason availability.
In a session with reporters at the NFL scouting combine, DeCosta said he’s never discussed the possibility of a contract-related holdout with a Ravens player. In recent weeks, some NFL analysts have urged Jackson, a two-time Pro Bowl selection and 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player whose rookie contract runs through 2022, not to return to team activities until he has a lucrative deal signed.
“I think just in general, holdouts now for players are pretty problematic in a lot of ways,” DeCosta said inside the Indiana Convention Center, referring to rules that, under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, allow for increased fines for players who hold out. “The players that are under contract, it’s just very hard to do that in general. The CBA made it very, very challenging for players under contract to hold out. I’ve never had those conversations with any of our players at this point.”
Discussions with Jackson remain “ongoing,” according to DeCosta, who said they’ve spoken “fairly recently.” If the two sides cannot reach an agreement before the 2022 season, Jackson will play on his fifth-year option, which comes with a $23 million salary cap hit. A new deal would be the biggest in Ravens history and likely help the team clear cap space.
“He knows how to find me; I know how to find him,” DeCosta said of Jackson. “He’s a guy that when we think about the Ravens three, four, five years from now, we envision Lamar being a very big part of that team and definitely a player that can help us win Super Bowls.”
DeCosta said it was “exciting” to see Jackson, finally recovered from an ankle injury that sidelined him over the final month of a disappointing Ravens season, practicing with wide receivers Rashod Bateman and James Proche II in California recently. But with free agency approaching, a deal seems far from imminent.
“I think that it takes two sides to actively put their heads together and get a deal worked out,” DeCosta said. “And we are ready to be there for Lamar at any point when he decides that he really wants to work on it. We will be [ready]. We have an awesome relationship. So excited about this opportunity coming up, 2022 season, for him and for the club.”
This story may be updated.
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