We may be in the middle of the offseason, but Monday was a dramatic day in the NFL. As head coaches took their seats at the NFL owners meetings to speak with reporters, one of the best players in the world, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, revealed on Twitter he had requested a trade.
While this naturally created a "mad scramble" to get to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh's table, Jackson became the topic of conversation at other tables as well. The 2019 NFL MVP received the non-exclusive franchise tag earlier this offseason, which allows him to negotiate with other teams. However, two weeks into the new league year, it doesn't appear any team has approached Jackson. Why? It likely has to do with his asking price.
Guaranteed money is reportedly a big reason why the Ravens and Jackson haven't agreed to a new deal. Jackson desires a contract that resembles the one the rival Cleveland Browns gave to Deshaun Watson -- a fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million deal. It's such an outlier, however, it doesn't appear anyone is willing to pay that price again -- or surpass it.
When it comes to prospective landing spots for Jackson, the Indianapolis Colts have been brought up. According to a recent report from ESPN, the Colts have not ruled out having discussions with Jackson, but the franchise has not taken any steps toward doing so. This week, Colts owner Jim Irsay was asked about fully guaranteed contracts in the NFL. Here's what he said:
"As an owner I do not believe in fully guaranteed contracts," Irsay said, per The Athletic. "I think that a percentage is one thing, but from what I've seen from the NBA and baseball, I don't see it as a positive competitively."
Irsay told reporters that he's old school, but he made it clear that he doesn't believe guaranteed contracts are a good thing for this league.
"For me, for the good of the game, boy, I don't believe guaranteed contracts would be good for our game at all. At all," Irsay said.
"I don't think (they) make our game greater, I think it makes it worse."
Colts general manager Chris Ballard was also asked this week about potentially adding Jackson, and he said his team will do their due diligence on every position. Basically, he didn't rule it out.
"Anytime a special player is available, which he is, you've got to do the work," Ballard said, via ESPN. "I'm not gonna get into deep discussions on where it's at or what we're doing or what we might do, but what I'll tell you is he's a really good player, really special player. But you never know how any of this will work out."
The Colts hold the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and have a nice opportunity to select a rookie signal-caller. Surely the Colts will discuss pursuing Jackson, but his price tag may be too high.