Lamar Jackson said Monday that he has requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens as the team “has not been interested in meeting my value” in contract talks. He made that announcement on Twitter.
“… I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win the super bowl,” he tweeted, adding that Ravens fans “are great but I had to make a business decision that was best for my family and I. No matter how far I go or where my career takes me, I’ll continue to be close to my fans of Baltimore Flock nation and the entire State of Maryland. You’ll See me again.”
The Ravens placed the nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson, so if there is an offer sheet with another team, the Ravens could match it or would receive two first-round picks. If no sheet, Jackson would earn $32.416 million this season if he plays under the tag.
Because of his request, it appears that the Ravens may be just fine with letting him walk, based on a new report.
During an appearance on ESPN, league insider Jeremy Fowler revealed that it seems both the Ravens and Jackson are open to the possibility of Jackson moving on from the team.
“People I’m talking to believe or are getting the sense that Lamar Jackson is at least open to a change of scenery at this point from Baltimore because he’s been put in that position when the Ravens placed a non-exclusive franchise on him opening the door to make offer sheets on Jackson that the Ravens can always match,” Fowler said on ESPN.
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“I’m not hearing anything hard and fast right now on teams making an offer sheet – that has not happened yet,” Fowler said. “Negotiations have not progressed that far.”
Fowler made it clear that the Ravens have not come out and said they are ready to move on, but they also are not committing to a long-term future with Jackson.
“Baltimore is at least giving some indication to some free agents that they’ve been meeting with that they would like to keep Lamar, they hope he’s there. But they are not committing one way or another,” Fowler said.
For over a year, both Jackson and the Ravens have insisted publicly that a long-term contract extension is what they want. Clearly, that has not happened. Batimore’s offers and the QB’s demands are not working out. Jackson called out the Ravens’ organization in early March for low-balling him while revealing details of their latest proposal.
Him exposing his trade request is just the latest move for him to try and get the ball rolling in his favor.
Time will tell if it will work.
