Lamar Jackson on Monday said that he has requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens because according to the quarterback, the team “has not been interested in meeting my value.”
He made the revelation in a series of tweets stating that he requested a trade as of March 2. On March 7, the Ravens put the nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson and said they were still hopeful they could reach a long-term deal with him.
“Everyone that’s has met me or been around me know I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win the super bowl,” he stressed.
However, Jackson may not need a trade to join a new team as the nonexclusive franchise tag allows him to negotiate with other clubs. However, it also gives Baltimore a chance to match any agreement he makes.
Lamar Jackson might have decided to make the trade request public in order to deter the Ravens from matching another team’s offer — or an attempt to spur more interest among other teams by declaring that he wants to leave Baltimore.
If Jackson makes a deal with another team and the Ravens don’t match it, that team would owe Baltimore two first-round draft picks.
At the league’s owners’ meetings in Phoenix, Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke about Lamar Jackson’s matter.
“I haven’t seen the tweet. That’s an ongoing process. I’m following it very closely, just like everybody else is here, and looking forward to a resolution. I’m excited, thinking about Lamar all the time, thinking about him as our quarterback. We’re building our offense around that idea.”
Jackson has been hurt at the end of the past two seasons, and the Ravens haven’t reached the AFC championship game with him. If he stays with Baltimore, he’ll have a new coordinator – Georgia’s Todd Monken, who was hired after the end of last season.
“You’ve got to plan for all the contingencies for sure. But I’m pretty fired up about Lamar Jackson. I mean, Lamar Jackson is a great player. Lamar came back in great shape last year. He’s fired up to play. That’s the Lamar that I’m looking forward to seeing. Can’t wait to get back on the grass and go to work, and I’m confident that’s going to happen.”
“Nothing’s changed in terms of the relationships, how we feel about Lamar, how we want to build our team,” Harbaugh said.
Jackson does not have an agent for himself. In a memo sent to teams last week and obtained by The Associated Press, the NFL management council said a person who is not an NFLPA-certified agent may be contacting clubs and attempting to persuade them to negotiate with Jackson. The memo reiterated to teams that, under the collective bargaining agreement, if a player is representing himself, an offer sheet can only be negotiated with that player.
25-year-old Lamar Jackson was the 2019 NFL MVP. He is one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 rushings.
