Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and the rest of the franchise have been adamant that they want to build their offense around Lamar Jackson for years to come.
But the longer the former NFL MVP and the team negotiate without coming to an agreement on a new, long-term deal, the less likely that appears to be to come to fruition.
It's now gotten to the point that the Ravens are no longer considered the most likely team for which Jackson will suit up in 2023, at least according to one sportsbook.
Adam Thompson of Bookies.com tweeted Tuesday that the Atlanta Falcons are now listed as the favorite to land Jackson with odds of +300.
The Carolina Panthers and Las Vegas Raiders are next, followed in fourth place by the Ravens. Bookies.com only gives Jackson's current team +550 odds of retaining him.
The two other teams with odds better than +1000 are the New York Jets and Chicago Bears, both listed with lines of +750.
Jackson is set to become a free agent this offseason after playing out the final year of his rookie contract in 2022. While he is not expected to hit the open market, negotiations between him and the Ravens have reportedly not gone smoothly , with Jackson asking for a contract similar to that of Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson's five-year, $230 million, fully guaranteed deal. According to one report , the Ravens have not offered him more than $133 million guaranteed.
That has led to some speculation that the Ravens could trade Jackson to another team willing to give up multiple first-round draft picks and sign Jackson to a new contract.
Baltimore could also place the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson. Doing so would allow other teams to negotiate deals with the Louisville product. If Jackson were to reach a deal with another franchise, the Ravens would receive two first-round picks as compensation.
The Falcons could use a quarterback after having released 2022 starter Marcus Mariota on Tuesday. While the franchise does have third-round draft pick Desmond Ridder in place as a potential successor, the franchise would certainly prefer to have the former MVP behind center.
Jackson has been dynamic since entering the NFL in 2018, leading the Ravens to a 45-16 record as a starter. However, he's been plagued by injuries, which have forced him to miss 11 games across the past two seasons, including the team's Wild Card loss to the Cincinnati Bengals this year.
While the Ravens might be hesitant to give a player with that injury history a massive amount of guaranteed money, some quarterback-needy team almost certainly will. Right now, it looks like the money is on the Falcons.
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