Getty Image / Patrick Smith
Lamar Jackson finds himself in a very interesting situation right now.
After more than a year of negotiations with the Baltimore Ravens, he ended up without the long-term contract he was looking for and now finds himself stuck with the non-exclusive franchise tag.
That leaves the possibility that other teams can still try to sign him.
However, teams have so far not shown interest in making him an offer.
According to one NFL insider, that may not change.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported today that multiple teams believe that no offer will ever come for Jackson.
Video: "I talked to multiple teams who predict that no team will make an offer, as crazy as it sounds." pic.twitter.com/aS1ww5WKy0
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) March 11, 2023
The list of teams that are supposedly not interested in Jackson has been growing since the Ravens used the non-exclusive tag on him. Yesterday, we learned that there will definitely be one less option for Jackson when the Panthers traded up for pick 1 to get their franchise QB.
Still, it’s hard to believe that an offer is never coming for Jackson.
The obstacles have already been pretty clearly laid out. Teams would be put in limbo after making an offer because they would have to wait 5 days to see if the Ravens match. The Ravens would likely match the best offers many of these teams would make, so they could be left waiting for nothing while other teams poach other QBs they were interested in.
However, that shouldn’t really be an issue much longer. Aaron Rodgers’ move to the Jets seems to be just about done at this point, so he won’t be an option for QB-needy teams anymore.
That pretty much just leaves Jimmy Garoppolo as a quarterback that should have a robust market this offseason. Once he’s signed, the wait to see if the Ravens match an offer on Jackson shouldn’t seem like such a deterrent.
There are plenty of teams out there that need a quarterback right now. It would be pretty surprising for Lamar Jackson to make it through the offseason without at least one offer.