Ravens' Updated 2023 Salary Cap After Lamar Jackson's $260 Million Contract
April 27, 2023
Lamar Jackson is coming back to the Baltimore Ravens on one of the biggest deals in NFL history.
After a tumultuous offseason highlighted by Jackson requesting a trade from the Ravens in March, the star quarterback agreed to a five-year, $260-million deal Thursday, according to CBS Sports' Josina Anderson.
That just edges out Jalen Hurts' five-year, $255 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles to make Jackson the highest-paid player in the NFL on an annual basis, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Jackson will be guaranteed a total of $185 million, per Anderson.
The Ravens placed the $32.4 million non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson in March. With Jackson's new deal now in place, they might have enough cap space to trade for Arizona Cardinals wideout DeAndre Hopkins, per Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson.
Baltimore entered draft night with $3.9 million in available cap space, according to Spotrac.
Beyond Jackson, the Ravens' highest-paid players are offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley ($23.67 million), cornerback Marlon Humphrey ($19.99 million) and tight end Mark Andrews ($13.66 million), per Spotrac. Linebacker Roquan Smith has the next-highest cap hit at $9 million (4.02 percent of the cap), while all of the Ravens' other players under contract take up less than 4 percent of the cap.
Jackson's extension talks have been ongoing since the summer of 2021. He entered negotiations without an agent, and the Ravens said multiple times in the spring of 2022 that he had not yet expressed interest in signing a new deal.
As the negotiations stretched into 2023, Jackson began to air his frustration on social media. In March, Jackson tweeted he had turned down a three-year, $133 million fully guaranteed contract and requested a trade.
The Ravens added new supporting players like wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and increased the size of the offer to mend fences with Jackson.
Jackson was named NFL MVP in 2019 after leading the NFL with 36 passing touchdowns. He has started every game in which he's appeared since then.
In 54 starts over the past four seasons, Jackson has thrown for 11,008 yards and 95 touchdowns while completing 64.4 percent of his pass attempts.
