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What Would a Lamar Jackson Trade Look Like?
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

What Would a Lamar Jackson Trade Look Like?

Originally posted on Athlon Sports  |  By Luke Easterling  |  Last updated Jun 17, 2026 7:01 AM ET
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An extremely, incredibly stupid thing to do.

That's what trading Lamar Jackson would look like.

The Baltimore Ravens have been the beneficiaries of the entire NFL, and even themselves, passing on one of the more revolutionary players in the history of the game in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. They made the wise decision to trade up and select him with the 32nd overall pick that year, landing a superstar at the game's most important position with the last pick of the round.

We all know what he's done since.

In just his second season, a 22-year-old Jackson was the youngest player to win NFL MVP since Jim Brown did it in 1957. Four years later, he became the youngest quarterback in league history to win it twice. The following season was even more impressive, as Jackson delivered arguably the best season we've ever seen from an NFL quarterback. He threw for 4,172 yards and 41 touchdown passes, with just four interceptions, somehow adding nearly 1,000 more yards on the ground. He should have won his third MVP, but it went to Josh Allen instead.

Jackson could retire today, and he would be a slam-dunk Hall of Famer without playing another snap. He owns just shy of 20 NFL records, and even without a Super Bowl ring, his impact on the game and revolutionary transformation of the quarterback position would easily earn him a gold jacket and a bronze bust in Canton.

Lamar Jackson's NFL career is already worthy of the Hall of Fame. (Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images)Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The Ravens knew what they had when they signed Jackson to a five-year, $260 million contract extension back in 2023, with $185 million in guaranteed money. That deal runs through the 2027 season, and with another star quarterback in Patrick Mahomes recently getting a new deal with a significant raise, eyes are turning to Baltimore to see if Jackson gets similar treatment.

The longer Jackson goes without a new deal in place beyond the 2027 season, the louder the talk will get about the Ravens looking for a potential trade partner instead of continuing to pay one of the best quarterbacks in the game what he's worth relative to the current market.

But as any team without a true franchise quarterback will tell you, there's no price too large for a difference-maker at that position. It's why the Chiefs just made Mahomes the first player in league history on pace to earn over half a billion dollars over his career. It's why teams are so desperate for even mediocre quarterback play, they're willing to pay guys like Daniel Jones $44 million per season.

Recent long-term contract extensions for other starting quarterbacks have knocked Jackson out of the top 10 highest-paid signal-callers in the league. Even at $52 million per season, Jackson will be a relative bargain over the final two years of his current deal. He's making less than Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, and Brock Purdy.

When you already have a franchise quarterback in the building, especially one with the rare skill set Jackson has always brought to the table, you don't move on from that kind of player on purpose.

For Jackson's part, he continues to make it clear that he loves Baltimore, and doesn't want to go anywhere:

There's still plenty of time for both sides to get a new long-term deal done, and neither side seems to be particularly concerned about heading into the 2026 season without that deal in place. That won't stop anyone else from discussing what a potential trade might look like, but it's not going to happen.

The Chiefs aren't going to trade Mahomes. The Bills aren't going to trade Josh Allen. The Bengals aren't going to trade Joe Burrow. Because that would be an extremely, incredibly stupid thing to do.

That's what a Lamar Jackson trade would look like for the Ravens, and that's all it's ever going to look like.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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