The Athletic has live coverage of the NFL free agency window.
At 4 p.m. ET Wednesday, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is finally allowed to field overtures and contract offers from other teams. The question, and it feels even more legitimate now than it did when the Ravens placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on the quarterback a week ago, is who will be calling the league’s former unanimous MVP?
As the NFL’s two-day tampering window morphs into the start of the new league year, the market for the Ravens’ star signal caller is still unclear, even as quarterback-needy teams remain. Several teams that appeared to be a fit for Jackson have either acquired a starting quarterback or are poised to do so, making the list of potential suitors even smaller.
That list no longer includes the Carolina Panthers, who last week engineered a trade with the Chicago Bears for the top overall draft pick next month, allowing them to select the rookie quarterback of their choosing. It no longer includes the Las Vegas Raiders, who have opted to replace Derek Carr, now the New Orleans Saints starter, with veteran Jimmy Garoppolo. It no longer includes the Miami Dolphins, who picked up the fifth-year option on starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, signed backup Mike White to a two-year deal and made a host of other moves, including adding high-priced cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
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The Atlanta Falcons, who couldn’t wait to let everyone know last week they were out on Jackson, have acted this week like a team that doesn’t intend on making him a contract offer and is planning to stay the course with Desmond Ridder. The Falcons utilized a ton of their cap space and agreed to a two-year deal worth up to $20 million with Taylor Heinicke to back up Ridder.
The New York Jets continue to work toward acquiring Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers, and it’s been widely reported that the salary cap-strapped Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking at cheaper options, such as Baker Mayfield and Jacoby Brissett, to come in and compete with Kyle Trask for the starting quarterback job. Armed with the No. 2 pick, the Houston Texans are in position to draft a quarterback, rather than giving that selection and a 2024 first-rounder to the Ravens in exchange for Jackson.
So who does that leave? The Indianapolis Colts stand out. In releasing quarterback Matt Ryan and agreeing to trade veteran corner Stephon Gilmore to the Dallas Cowboys Tuesday, the Colts certainly created some salary-cap space. However, team officials have also talked about wanting to draft their own signal caller after going with three straight veterans following Andrew Luck’s surprising retirement. With the No. 4 pick, the Colts are guaranteed one of the draft’s top quarterbacks: Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Alabama’s Bryce Young, Florida’s Anthony Richardson or Kentucky’s Will Levis.
Poised to start second-year fifth-round pick Sam Howell, the Washington Commanders are another team that’s been connected to Jackson. It’s not hard to see potential outgoing owner Daniel Snyder making such a move and being willing to offer Jackson a fully guaranteed deal that would be tough for Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to match. However, NFL Network’s Sherree Burruss interviewed Commanders coach Ron Rivera Monday and reported that Rivera said “there is no push” to get involved in the Jackson bidding.
The Tennessee Titans? New general manager Ran Carthon has backed starter Ryan Tannehill, and the Titans aren’t acting like a team that is suddenly going to be willing to give a quarterback $200-plus million in guaranteed money.
It would be foolish, given the delicacy of the negotiations, for another team to directly announce its intentions to make Jackson an offer. This is also lying season in the NFL, so it’s wise to not discount any potential destinations when there is a quarterback upgrade available. Jackson is only 26 and one of the most dynamic players in the league. He’d also be a huge draw for a franchise struggling for relevance, and owners — the ones who are going to have to make the final decision on a deal of this magnitude anyway — surely understand what his addition would mean.
For their part, the Ravens haven’t done anything over the past couple of days that would jeopardize their chances of matching any offer sheet for Jackson. They agreed to trade safety Chuck Clark, released veteran defensive end Calais Campbell and got running back Gus Edwards and nose tackle Michael Pierce to accept pay reductions. Guard Kevin Zeitler also had his contract revised to create more cap space. In all three contract alterations, the Ravens used void years, which they’ve avoided in the past. Their willingness to use them this year could easily be taken as a sign that Baltimore is prepared to use every possible measure to protect itself against an outside offer for Jackson.
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The only Ravens’ free-agent move has been re-signing cornerback Trayvon Mullen, who just happens to be Jackson’s cousin, to a one-year deal for what probably will be pretty close to the league minimum. The Ravens are in line to enter the new league year with roughly $10 million of salary-cap space, but there are other moves they could make to create more. Simple contract restructures of left tackle Ronnie Stanley and cornerback Marlon Humphrey would more than double their available cap space.
Ravens officials have expressed quiet confidence that they’ll be able to match any offer sheet for Jackson if they so choose. But the questions remain: Will he sign one, and with whom?
Some non-tenders coming
The Ravens have until 4 p.m. Wednesday to make a decision on whether to tender a contract to their six restricted free agents, a group that includes quarterback Tyler Huntley, center Trystan Colon, linebackers Del’Shawn Phillips and Kristian Welch, safety Geno Stone and long snapper Nick Moore. However, the expectation is that most, if not all of them, will not get tendered a contract, allowing them to hit free agency.
Even the lowest tender would cost the Ravens just under $2.7 million, a healthy expenditure for a team up against the cap. Obviously, the Ravens aren’t going to extend contract offers of that level to Phillips and Welch, who play almost exclusively special teams and combined to log five defensive snaps last year. The highest-paid long snappers in the NFL make in the $1.4-$1.5 million per year range. A low tender is nearly double that, so that explains why the Ravens won’t tender Moore, as pleased as they are with how he has performed in his role the past two seasons.
The Ravens obviously like Colon, the former undrafted free agent who has proven to be a solid reserve and has held his own in four starts over three seasons. Still, he projects as the team’s eighth or ninth offensive lineman. He’s valuable, but is he worth $2.7 million to a cap-strapped team?
Stone has also proven to be a steady contributor over the past two years on both defense and special teams. He started seven games last year for an injured Marcus Williams and held up well. With Clark getting traded, Stone would be the favorite to be the team’s No. 3 safety in 2023 behind Williams and Kyle Hamilton, and that’s a potentially significant role. Yet, the Ravens, at the start of the week, were leaning toward non-tendering Stone, per those involved in the talks. They were planning to revisit the decision closer to Wednesday’s deadline.
Then there’s Huntley, who might represent the toughest decision of them all. The Ravens have had discussions about bringing in a more experienced veteran backup, which, assuming Jackson is back, would leave Huntley as the No. 3 quarterback. That certainly could impact just how much the team would be willing to pay Huntley. However, if the Ravens non-tender him, the only quarterback on their roster in mid-March would be second-year undrafted free agent Anthony Brown.
Traditionally, the Ravens have had success in not tendering certain restricted free agents and then being able to re-sign them to more team-friendly deals. All teams do it. But there are no guarantees when those players are allowed to field outside offers. Huntley has shown enough in his eight starts over the past two seasons to be attractive to other teams as a modestly-priced backup quarterback. There are some teams that could easily view Stone as a starter and be able to pay him as such. The Ravens’ ability to find and develop special teams players is well-documented around the league, so a guy like Moore will likely garner interest.
The Ravens are in a bit of a tough spot. They have to be frugal and selective with how they use their cap space, but losing guys such as Huntley, Stone, Colon and Moore would create openings on their roster that they’d have to fill.
Backup QB options
The idea behind the Ravens spending some money on the backup quarterback position wasn’t based on finding a replacement if Jackson leaves. It was more about finding a more experienced option if Jackson’s late-season injury woes persist, and a contingency plan if the quarterback opts to hold out from training camp as a result of his contract stalemate.
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With a new offensive coordinator in Todd Monken, the Ravens are going to need to make good use of training camp and the preseason. An experienced quarterback, who has been in different offenses and understands the acclimation process, would aid in that transition if, in fact, Jackson is a camp holdout. However, the backup quarterback market has thinned since the tampering window opened.
Mayfield and Brissett are the top remaining options, but both understandably are looking for opportunities to potentially start. Behind them are former starters Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota, Teddy Bridgewater, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan. And then there are a group of younger options, such as Cooper Rush, Gardner Minshew, Drew Lock and Mason Rudolph.
The Ravens could easily just tender Huntley and stand pat, choosing to spend their limited cap dollars elsewhere. There are options, however, if they go in a different direction.
(Top photo: Ray Seebeck / USA Today)
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