Is Lamar Jackson Set to Become the Highest Paid Quarterback in the History of the NFL?

Once the drafts are done, there’s not much big news kicking around in the offseason as everyone waits for September to roll around. However, Lamar Jackson’s negotiations with the Ravens has got everyone talking about whether it’s set to break all NFL records.

According to Jackson himself, there's no question about staying at Baltimore: it's just about how much they want to pay him to play. In recent days, NFL betting has heated up with growing speculation that Jackson could just become the top-paid player of all time.

In recent years, there have been some big-money deals in the NFL - even by their own high standards. 

In 2019, Mike Trout signed a $426.5 million deal for 12 years with the LA Angels, which was a record for the league. However, this benchmark wasn't to last for long as the following year, 24-year-old Patrick Mahomes put pen to paper on a deal worth $503 million for ten years with the Chiefs.

As a fellow quarterback, Lemar Jackson could be looking at these numbers and expecting the Ravens to go higher - and tipsters have suggested that he might be right. Bill Enright from Sports Illustrated is one of his supporters, suggesting that the quarterback should receive “whatever he wants” from Baltimore to sign on the dotted line. 

There's no immediate rush to get the deal done, as Jackson still has two years left on his contract. However, the Ravens might be keen to get him signed up to a longer term deal sooner rather than later because if he wins the Super Bowl, he'll be worth even more.

While many players are cautious about revealing their intent when entering negotiations, Lamar Jackson has been open about where he sees his future. 

Confirming that he’s already spoken to general manager Eric DeCosta, Jackson pledged his future to Baltimore, saying that he “would love to be here forever” and intimating that he wants a new deal sooner rather than later. 

For this reason, many believe he'll be given a contract worth around $40 million per season - but one that doesn't break the all-time record. Conservative estimates suggest he'll fall between the $156 million deal that Deshaun Watson got at Houston Texans and the $240 million deal that Dak Prescott got from Dallas Cowboys. 

It's not just the total value of the contract which needs to be hammered out; it's also the structure. Some players receive more money earlier in the deal, while others have more evenly spread payments. Although salaries have to squeeze into the cap space, clever contracts can circumvent lack of capacity by how they're structured. 

Although Jackson could very easily put forward a persuasive case for being given a record-breaking deal, the chances are that he’ll settle for something more modest to stay at a club he truly loves.