Ravens surprised no team made Lamar Jackson contract offer

Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta has hinted he expected at least one team would make quarterback Lamar Jackson an offer this spring. 

"Was I surprised? Probably a little bit, but in the end, every team has to look at who they are, how they’re built, what’s important to them," DeCosta told Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio about no club actively pursuing Jackson. "I always feel like one of the advantages to free agency is when you have a guy on your team, you know exactly who he is, you know how he’s wired, you know what’s important to him. Other teams don’t know that, you know? And so that’s why in my mind, free agency is always a little bit dicey because here we are coveting other players on other teams, and we don’t know very much about them. A lot of times we try to find out, but we don’t." 

Jackson was eligible to negotiate with other clubs throughout the new NFL year while on the non-exclusive franchise tag. Baltimore then either could've matched an offer he accepted or received two first-round draft picks in return for the one-time NFL Most Valuable Player. 

Multiple reporters, including Florio, and the NFL Players Association suggested owners colluded to ensure Jackson only received a noteworthy offer from the Ravens as he allegedly looked to earn a deal similar to the fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson signed last offseason. Jackson ultimately committed his future to the Ravens last week via a five-year deal reportedly worth up to $260M with $185M in guaranteed cash.

"One thing I’ve learned in my almost 28 years now is that every team operates differently," DeCosta added. "Like, listen, there were many players in this draft that we thought were great players who fell, and there were a lot of players that, you know, we weren’t quite as high on as other teams. And that’s just kind of the nature of the business. Every team evaluates these guys differently." 

Perhaps understandable concerns regarding Jackson's injury history coupled with his supposed contract demands scared off outside clubs. Maybe, as Florio indicated, other teams simply believed Baltimore would match any offer sheet Jackson signed before the July 17 deadline for clubs to ink tagged players to long-term deals. 

"We already had the $32M as a placeholder on our salary cap," DeCosta said of Jackson's situation. "Other teams didn’t. That’s problematic for other teams. So, in the end, it’s a calculated gamble, I would say. You know, is a team going to go after Lamar Jackson? And if they do, maybe, just maybe, the deal is something we can match which makes life easier for us." 

Whatever did or didn't happen, Jackson clearly had reasons to believe that extending talks with the Ravens and/or other franchises into the summer months would've done him little good in the long run.