The football world is closely following the status of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who needs a new contract following the expiration of his rookie deal.
NFL free agency begins on Mar. 15. The Ravens have four options with Jackson: Extend, franchise tag, trade or let him walk to free agency. Right now, it’s truly anybody’s guess where the Ravens will go with the 2019 league MVP.
At ESPN, Football Outsiders’ Robert Weintraub proposed a bold trade scenario for the Ravens to find a new franchise quarterback. Weintraub brought up the ideas of the Ravens trading Jackson while also trying to land Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears:
“The franchise tag appears imminent — but then what? The bold move would be to tag and trade Lamar to a team that would sign him to a rich new deal. Would Chicago take Jackson for a package of picks and/or Justin Fields? Would Atlanta throw a bevy of assets at the Ravens in exchange?
The Texans are lousy with draft capital as well as plain lousy — would they shift some of those extra picks Baltimore’s way to revive a moribund franchise? Regardless of the destination, the Ravens’ return likely won’t ever be higher than now. The Ravens have a strong roster that still needs some pieces, and resetting the contract clock at quarterback might unlock a championship push if they draft the right (cheap) signal-caller.”
The Bears hold the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and GM Ryan Poles has plenty of options with it. He could trade Fields for extra draft capital and then use the No. 1 selection on Alabama’s Bryce Young or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.
If the Bears hold onto Fields, then they can sell the top selection to the highest-bidder for a team that needs a quarterback. The Houston Texans (owners of the No. 2 pick) and the Indianapolis Colts (No. 4 selection) are teams to watch there.
It’s unlikely, but acquiring Fields to replace Jackson would make sense for the Ravens in multiple ways. They’d have him on a cheap rookie contract for three more years, and his dazzling two-way game would make Fields the perfect fit in Baltimore’s offense.
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Fields, after all, rushed for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns on football’s worst team in 2022.
