Lamar Jackson rumors: New info from Ravens OC search clouds QB’s future

The Baltimore Ravens have stated over and over again that Lamar Jackson is the team’s quarterback of the future, but actions speak louder than words.

The Baltimore Ravens got their offseason underway with their first big hire, bringing on Georgia’s Todd Monken as the team’s new offensive coordinator.

Baltimore parted ways with long-time play-caller Greg Roman following a disappointing 2022 season that saw the Ravens get knocked out early by the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round. Monken’s hire ushers in a new offensive era for the franchise that will hopefully revitalize the passing game in particular, but could this era exclude star quarterback Lamar Jackson?

In Baltimore’s end-of-season press conference, general manager Eric DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh spoke at length about Jackson’s future with the franchise. Both adamantly agreed on one thing: Lamar Jackson is the Ravens’ quarterback of the future, and Harbaugh said there was a “200 percent” chance that Jackson stays in Baltimore.

But that’s apparently not what he and the Ravens told prospective offensive coordinators. According to theScore’s exclusive report, the Ravens “didn’t provide full assurances that Lamar Jackson would return as the team’s quarterback in 2023” when they conducted OC interviews earlier this year.

Is this a case of crossed wire or something worse?

Lamar Jackson’s future with the team gets murky following damning Ravens report

Jackson and the Ravens have been hashing out an extension for the past few years, and now that Jackson, who played out his rookie contract in 2022, is set to enter free agency, the pressure of getting a deal done has risen exponentially for Baltimore.

Negotiations stalled last offseason when Deshaun Watson received a precedent-setting fully guaranteed contract from the Cleveland Browns, and Jackson presumably looked Watson’s way and decided he wanted the same thing.

Neither Jackson nor the Ravens have leaked many details about the ongoing negotiations, but the two sides will have to hammer out a deal within the next month. If no agreement is reached, the Ravens will likely place the franchise tag on Jackson and give themselves another year to extend the quarterback.

As of now, the huge disparity of how much guaranteed money Jackson should receive serves as the widening rift between the quarterback and the Ravens, and the two sides are possibly $100 million apart in current contract talks.

Based on the financials and the recent report, Lamar Jackson’s future with Baltimore suddenly feels much more ominous.