Lamar Jackson’s lengthy contract dispute with the Baltimore Ravens, which resulted in a trade request earlier this month, has been blamed on fellow quarterback Patrick Mahomes by former NFL star Richard Sherman.
Jackson, 26, has been eligible for a new contract since the end of the 2020 season and despite having two years to get a deal done, the player and the Ravens haven’t been able to ink new terms.
Negotiations between the two parties have fallen apart and a non-exclusive franchise tag has been placed on 2019 MVP Jackson, who is said to be looking for a fully guaranteed deal.
However, Jackson’s inability to secure a fully guaranteed deal out of the Ravens, or another team for that matter, has been blamed on Kansas City Chiefs poster boy Mahomes and the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen.
Former NFL star Sherman says Mahomes should have looked to set a "precedent" with a fully guaranteed deal instead of taking the "B.S." 10-year contract that he ended up accepting. Mahomes signed a 10-year, $477million (£385m) deal in July 2020 that included just $63m (£50.9m) in fully guaranteed money. The 2023 Super Bowl winner’s contract is made up of rolling guarantees, which he’s likely to hit, and it’s unlikely the Chiefs will be cutting him any time soon.
Just over a year after Mahomes’ new decade-long contract, Allen landed a six-year extension from the Bills. And like Mahomes, Allen didn’t secure a fully guaranteed deal.
"What p***** me off is when Kirk Cousins got his guaranteed deal, I thought all the quarterbacks from then on were going to be like, 'Hey, if it ain't guaranteed, I ain't taking it’,'' Sherman said on his podcast.
"Then Mahomes took that B.S. deal, just 10 years and wanted it to look like half a [billion], but if you get half of that fully guaranteed, everybody's happier. That sets precedent."
A player who did manage to was Deshaun Watson, who squeezed a fully guaranteed $230m (£186m), five-year deal out of the Cleveland Browns. "When [Mahomes] didn't set it, then Josh Allen didn't set it, now Lamar's trying to set it after Deshaun's already set it. And [owners] are like, 'Nah’," Sherman said.
As for Jackson’s situation, the five-time Pro Bowler is shocked a team is yet to meet the player’s asking price, especially given the impact he has had in helping guide the team to the playoffs four times. "For them to say that nobody's interested in him, [teams are] trading two first-round picks for D-linemen and safeties and you're talking about a former MVP of the league," Sherman said. "A lot of these teams don't have nobody at the quarterback spot. Some of them are trading two first-round picks to draft a kid and you don't know what he's going to be."
Jackson is reportedly keen on joining the New England Patriots ahead of the 2023 season, owner Robert Kraft has confirmed. Kraft revealed that he received a text from US rapper Meek Mill, a friend of Jackson’s, which said the quarterback was keen on a move.
However, a final decision on a move for Jackson would be left to head coach, Bill Belichick, who wasn’t too keen to talk about a potential trade on Monday.
