By Ryan Burnett, Staff Writer
Now that the 2023 NFL season has concluded, there is one question looming in the minds of Baltimore Ravens fans: should Lamar Jackson be re-signed?
Lamar Jackson has been the Ravens’ starting quarterback since 2019, when he won League MVP. Ever since then he has failed to live up to the hype and has produced all alright numbers. However, this season he only played about four games until he stopped playing entirely because of an injury.
Fans began to wonder whether or not he deserved an extended contract. After the 2018 draft, his initial contract, $9.5 million for 4 years, did include a fifth year option for 23 million.
Ever since his 2019 season he has not performed nearly as well. This year he only managed to rack up 2,242 passing yards and 17 touchdowns compared to 2019. After Lamar got injured he seemed as if he did not want to be with the team at all.
If the Ravens decide to renew Lamar’s contract, that could be very risky. The Ravens do not know whether or not he will perform nearly as well next year as in 2019. The only problem is after the Ravens put a non-exclusive franchise tag on Lamar, many teams expressed that they did not want him. Junior, Foster Sariscak said “I don’t think they should resign him because he is not good enough.” On the other hand, junior Shawn Argawal said, “They should resign him if they give him a good contract under $300 million similar to Deshaun Watson.”
So far there have been no teams that have tendered him an offer sheet, showing that the market for him is not as anticipated. Another reason not to sign him, according to some, is his presence on the team among rumors that he is not a team player by not showing up to games and not being willing to play.
Despite the lack of interest from other teams, Lamar is an average quarterback with versatile running ability that not many quarterbacks have. so it might be a good idea to pay him to keep him around as an everyday quarterback.
Ravens fans are still left in the dark waiting to see if Lamar will put pen to paper and sign another contract, or if the Ravens will even offer Lamar a contract.