Ravens' Lamar Jackson Forfeits Big Money Again

Attendance at OTAs (organized team activities) is entirely voluntary, but teams would certainly like to have as many players in attendance as possible. Some even go as far as to provide incentives for players to attend OTAs, as the Baltimore Ravens have done with star quarterback Lamar Jackson.

According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, the five-year, $260 million contract Jackson signed in 2023 includes separate $750,000 workout bonuses for each year from 2024-27. He must attend 80 percent of OTAs each year to earn those bonuses, and considering he's only attended one of six workouts thus far, he's already missed the threshold for the second straight year.

Granted, Jackson is making $43.5 million in 2025, so $750,000 isn't much in the grand scheme of things.

However, the real risk, as Florio notes, is that an injury away from the facility could allow the Ravens to place him on the non-football injury list and thus not pay him for the sseason. They're probably not willing to do that as they would definitely anger their franchise player, but it's an option.

At any rate, the Ravens don't seem too pressed by Jackson's decision to skip OTAs.

"I'm not taking any position on it or judging it, or whatever," head coach John Harbaugh told reporters Friday. "Lamar, the day he was out here, played great. I could see he was in great shape, threw the ball great, made the right reads, knew the offense in an excellent kind of way. I thought he was fantastic.

"When he comes back and practices, when that happens, I expect him to play at that level. That's what you measure. You measure, for any player, how they play. I'm not measuring, really, the attendance. I mean it's a voluntary camp, so I'm not measuring that. I love being out here, and I think all the players do. And when Lamar's out here, I promise you, he loves being out here. You could see it when he was out here. He's my guy. I love him, and I can't wait to just get into this season and get going."

When Jackson inevitably signs his next contract, likely this offseason, it will be interesting to see if those workout bonuses remain.