The Ravens and Lamar Jackson failed to agree to a contract extension by the star quarterback’s self-imposed deadline Friday, and it’s a smart decision by the team.
It was always best to take the wait-and-see approach. Jackson still has to prove he can take the team deep into the playoffs before the Ravens make him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL.
Three quarterbacks have received at least $165 million guaranteed this offseason, but two of them, Deshaun Watson and Kyler Murray, don’t belong in that top tier because they haven’t won titles yet. That’s why the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals are two of the worst-run franchises in the league. The Ravens don’t need to be part of that class.
在这些谈判中，从来没有强烈的意识到乌鸦队急于完成交易。私下面，就准备好进行练习和游戏，他们对杰克逊的场外习惯有一些疑问。
尽管如此，总体上的假设是，乌鸦队可能会为他提供类似于默里最近签署的五年协议（2.3亿美元，合理的1.033亿美元）和沃森（保证了2.3亿美元）。
据无权公开发表关于此事的团队消息人士的说法，一个主要问题是，杰克逊想要完全保证的交易，这就是布朗队给沃森的东西。乌鸦老板史蒂夫·比斯科蒂（Steve Bisciotti）在三月询问了这种类型的交易when he met with local reporters in Florida消息人士称，团队官员不会在这一需求上陷入困境。
为四分卫提供与杰克逊一样多的四分卫提供这种保证是没有意义的。He’s averaged 154 carries per season since being drafted in 2018, including a career-high 176 when he was named NFL Most Valuable Player in 2019. Since 1946, according to Stathead, only five quarterbacks — Jackson, Murray, Jalen Hurts, Cam Newton and Bobby Douglass — have rushed 130 times or more in a single season.
沃森的交易受到联盟所有者和球员代理商的批评，乌鸦队可能想让沃森的交易是例外，而不是标准。杰克逊完全保证的协议将树立先例。
“I don’t know that he should’ve been the first guy to get a fully guaranteed contract,” Bisciotti said at the NFL owners meetings of the deal for Watson, who will serve an 11-game suspension without pay this season after he was accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct during massage sessions. “To me, that’s something that is groundbreaking, and it’ll make negotiations harder with others. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to play that game, you know? We shall see.”
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在四个赛季中，杰克逊为职业足球带来了无与伦比的兴奋。只有一名球员，已故的芝加哥熊队跑回盖尔·塞耶斯（Gale Sayers），可以像杰克逊（Jackson）那样在空旷的场上进行裁员。
乌鸦队在常规赛中以37-12的成绩与杰克逊（Jackson）成为首发球员，并在这四年中的三年中进入了季后赛，但在所有成功之下埋葬是1-3的季后赛记录。在那些比赛中，杰克逊被解雇了19次，投掷了5次拦截，并完成了55.9％的传球，共900码和3次达阵。
That’s the bottom line. If you want to get paid the big bucks, you need to beat the best teams in the playoffs. That’s crunch time, that’s big money time. Go ask the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady or the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen.
Great quarterbacks take over games in the postseason, and Jackson has yet to do that in Baltimore.
他在这里的情况创造了一个有趣的动态。杰克逊（Jackson）在乌鸦队以跑步的进攻中感到舒适，但他暗示他宁愿在巴尔的摩投掷更多的东西。广泛的接收者侯爵“好莱坞”布朗说，他要求乌鸦的交易，因为“系统不适合我”。
There is little proof that coordinator Greg Roman’s style of offense can produce a title in this modern age of pro football. The Ravens need to follow a certain formula to have success: run the ball effectively and control the pace of the game.
When that hasn’t happened, especially in the postseason, Jackson has struggled. He’s not accurate enough to throw outside the numbers or place the ball where only his receiver can make the catch.
但这也许是杰克逊的一年。如果他表现良好，并将乌鸦带到季后赛深处，那么他们基本上有义务付给他最高的美元。这就是九年前与乔·弗拉科（Joe Flacco）在巴尔的摩新秀交易的最后一年并赢得超级碗MVP时发生的事情。
The Ravens don’t need to make a bold move with Jackson now. He’ll make around $23 million this season and possibly as much as $45 million if they give him the exclusive franchise tag in 2023.
到那时，他将以一种或另一种方式证明自己。如果他继续输掉大型比赛，乌鸦可以继续前进。如果他获胜，他将获得这么大的报酬。