Even as the Ravens’ contract negotiations with Lamar Jackson drag on, with general manager Eric DeCosta reiterating Wednesday that the team will work “at Lamar’s urgency,” the quarterback’s unsettled future isn’t expected to affect his offseason availability in Baltimore.
In a session with local reporters at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, DeCosta said he’s never discussed the possibility of a contract-related holdout with a Ravens player. In recent weeks, some NFL analysts had urged Jackson, a two-time Pro Bowl selection and the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player, not to return to team activities until he has signed a lucrative extension. Jackson is entering the fifth and final year of his rookie contract.
“I think just in general, holdouts now for players are pretty problematic in a lot of ways,” DeCosta said Wednesday, 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.”
