SaltyDog
MVP
Yeah it tells me that no one knows what Lamar really wants, nor what the ravens are willing to give him.
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Lamar Jackson
- Thread starter Ice Bowl
- Start date
Even if you have to pay a little more, that seems worth it to me over going through the Kyle Boller, Anthony Wright, and Steve McNair era again. Hell, I love Joe Flacco but even that was a darkish time outside of early in his career. Finding another Lamar or a Mahomes or a Josh Allen is not an easy task.
One thing to remember with Jeff is that he still has to tow the company line to some extent. Media access is treated as a benefit from the Ravens nowadays. Not saying 50/50 isn't reasonable but it's also a guy that isn't going to come out and give it a 20% chance if that's what he's hearing unless the team starts acting like that's the case.
BoredMarine13
Ravens Ring of Honor
Problem is he hasn't been on the field in crunch time for two years. From Steve's perspective that's tough to justify Watson numbers.
What are the other alternatives though? I get the pause from that angle, but not like you can just go out there and get another guy without some trials and tribulations first. Few teams in history have been that fortunate
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
Gives me hope, actually.
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
Well the alternative would be trading him for heaps of picks and starting over with a new QB. Maybe they'll be better, maybe they won't.
we're in the rare position that we have a top 5 QB in the NFL and a unique player that every single team we play has to account for in a way they don't for basically any other player in the league
you don't just find those sorts of generational talents around the league often
and this team is way too functional to suck in a way that would ever get us the amount of capital to get multiple attempts at a top 5-10 pick - we have to nail it the first year we get it (because Lamar's going to be in charge of how high the other picks we get our in future years and it's a good bet we're not getting high picks if he's the QB of the team that governs where we get those picks)
the only way to get to a superbowl in this current era is to have elite QB play or have kyle shanahan/sean mcvay as your HC/playcaller
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
IF he did, which I don't think he did, but IF he did, he's a fool.
And he's not signing here long term and we should trade him. It's an elite deal for him six months ago, it's an elite deal for him six months from now.
That’s exactly what I’m getting at here. Maybe it will work and maybe it won’t. Just think they have to also weigh the benefit of that lottery chance. You could end up with another top QB or you could blow it on a guy like Boller again and spends years in the gutter trying to rebound.
i mean lamar literally was asked if he turned down 200m at his presser when the negotiations ended
and his response to the question was basically "guaranteed??? no not guaranteed"
was confirmed by lamar in that same presser that the number was somewhere between 160-180m - a recent agent said that the number was the 2nd best number proportionally ever which means that it was likely above 170m
maybe im wrong, would be shocked if lamar walked away from 200m guaranteed
i just think history tells you that finding QBs is hard, finding franchise QBs is harder, finding elite QBs is incredibly difficult
we've got one - we'll be incredibly lucky to get another one when all we get to choose from are whichever college QBs are coming out that year...
there doesnt look like there's any Joe Burrow coming out in 2023 or 2024 at least (albeit tbf he was a 1 year starter) who's just so clearly and obviously going to be a high-level QB and that feels like it has to come into the calculation
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
Well also with these things, the "guaranteed money" isn't really "guaranteed". Guaranteed at signing is mostly the only thing that's meaningful, because with contracts like this, there's going to be multiple built-in roster bonuses that usually trigger either year of or year in advance. Theoretically the team can opt out of those before the date they vest, and would reduce the "guaranteed" portion of it.
That being said, even with same terms in the $170-180M guaranteed range, he should be signing. Nobody can really knock the Ravens position IF that's the true offer range.
BoredMarine13
Ravens Ring of Honor
Completely agree. It’s a tough situation to hop back in the draft lottery when you have a proven guy in house. Would also depend on how much they love this years class. On the flip side , if we pay and if the injuries continue we’ve set our franchise back years.
Grim
Ravens Ring of Honor
Look no further than NE Patriots.
Tried succession plans for years and hit on maybe 0.5 of them depending on how you want to look at Jimmy G.
From the ravens side, I don't see any difference in guaranteeing 200 million vs 250 million.
you are completely buttfucked either way for half a decade if his knee buckles, might as well just make it 250 lol
you are completely buttfucked either way for half a decade if his knee buckles, might as well just make it 250 lol
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
I think the challenge is that you've had many recent draft classes where you can get 2-3 high-end QBs out of those draft classes seemingly. Maybe not like Mahomes-level, but clearly the types of QBs that with a viable supporting cast and quality coaching, they can win tons of games.
2021- Lawrence, Fields
2020 - Burrow, Herbert, Hurts, even Tua to a certain extent
2019 - Kyler, maybe Daniel Jones
2018 - Lamar
2017 - Mahomes, Watson
I mean there's obviously a pecking order in this group between "elite" QBs and those that are just "very good" or even "good", but 100% of the people on this list have proven you can win lots of football games with these QBs. Some require more talent around them and better coaching than others, but they're pretty much universally guys that franchises will build around long term.
So it just becomes a question of how difficult the Ravens think that is, AND, do they believe they can construct a roster that will win if Lamar costs $50M+ for five years or more?