A move of Lamar Jackson to the New England Patriots would immediate push the franchise back onto the Super Bowl path, said a former Patriots player turned TV analyst.
"I sure as heck want to see Lamar running around with a New England Patriot logo on his helmet,'' Rob Ninkovich said on ESPN’s “Get Up!,''because if you see it out there, the Patriots instantly become the division favorites and, to me, get right back into that Super Bowl hunt.”
Unfortuntely, the Baltimore Ravens' opponents do not seem to to want to get involved in the "dirty work'' of making a contract bid on the franchise-tagged superstar Jackson. And outside of But if New England coach Bill Belichick's stated admiration for Jackson, there is no suggestion of a real connection for the Pats here.
But that doesn't mean Ninkovich is wrong.
“If you’re another football team like, I don’t know, the Patriots – if you’re the Patriots and you go and you make an attempt to get Lamar, that changes everything. Absolutely everything,” Ninkovich.
Ninkovich is surely "rooting,'' in a sense, for his old Patriots team to return to title contention. But he's also making a football-sound point. Jackson’s ability as a dual threat - a runner and a passer - is essentially without equal in the NFL, as Jackson proved when he won the 2019 league MVP.
Now just 26, he's in a contract stalemate due to the franchise tag, meaning it'll take the Patriots or any other team a winning bid (which the Ravens can match) plus a sacrifice of two first-round picks to secure Jackson.
With Mac Jones on the team, quarterback isn’t necessarily a "need,'' Ninkovich noted. And of course, there is the matter of working out a Deshaun Watson-sized $230 million (or so) fully guaranteed contract - at least if Lamar (billed by some as a "loser'' here) is to get his way.
“There are needs and wants. A ‘need’ is a necessary for life. A ‘want’ helps your quality of life,” Ninkovich said. “I don’t need Lamar here. But ...''
"But'' he wants Super Bowl contention. And Lamar Jackson can give teams that in ways that most other NFL QBs cannot.
More Patriots coverage from Sports Illustrated here.
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