Kyler Murray landed one of the biggest contracts in NFL history on Thursday, and his new deal with the Arizona Cardinals may have a direct impact on Lamar Jackson’s situation. The Baltimore Ravens are reportedly not feeling any added pressure, however.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said on Friday’s edition of “Get Up” that the Ravens are “not panicked” about Murray signing a massive new deal with Arizona. Though, it does not sound like there has been much progress with the Jackson negotiations.
“A Ravens source told me, ‘Look, we’re not panicked. We’re just gonna chip away at this.’ There hasn’t been a lot of hard progress. This could take a while,” Fowler said.
Both former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III and former executive Mike Tannenbaum said Jackson has every right to demand at least as much money as the Cleveland Browns gave Deshaun Watson, which is $230 million guaranteed over five years. Murray’s deal is worth $230.5 million over five seasons, so the average annual value is slightly higher than Watson’s. Murray is getting $160 million guaranteed, which is significantly less than Watson.
Jackson, who does not have an agent, is a former NFL MVP. You can understand why he would ask for the same deal as Watson. In reality, he will probably end up with something close to what Murray got. Watson’s contract seemed to anger owners and executives around the league. There may not be any team that is willing to match it, which is something Jackson has to consider.
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