With the Baltimore Ravens on the brink of being eliminated from the playoff race in 2025, one ESPN NFL insider wonders if this could be the last ride for Lamar Jackson in Baltimore.
The Ravens have been viewed as perennial Super Bowl contenders for years now, but things have gone completely off the rails for Baltimore this season, including with Jackson, who hasn't played well and has dealt with injuries.
ESPN's Dan Graziano notes that the Ravens have to make a decision on Jackson's contract in 2026 because of the massive cap hits it carries in the next two seasons. Jackson will count as $74.5 million against the cap in 2026 and 2027.
The Ravens need to bring that cap hit down and can do so by extending Jackson on a contract Graziano believes will cost around $60 million annually.
However, Graziano isn't ruling out the possibility of the Ravens moving on from Jackson via trade given the struggles the team has had when it comes to playoff success during Jackson's tenure as the starter.
I've brought this up a few times, and I'm still not sure how likely it is that there's a change here, but the Ravens have to do something with Lamar Jackson's contract or move on. He has two years left at $51.25 million per year in base salary, but none of his remaining money is guaranteed -- and the cap hit for next year balloons to $74.5 million. The Ravens need to extend him to get that cap hit down, or else they need to trade him, which obviously would open up yet another QB1 position for next season. Jackson has a no-trade clause, so he'd have some say in this if the Ravens decided to explore options.
They wouldn't be replacing him with a better player, because there really aren't any better players. But given that Jackson and coach John Harbaugh have won a total of three playoff games together since Jackson was drafted in 2018, it might be worth the Ravens examining whether a new extension in excess of $60 million per year is the best way for them to build their team moving forward.
It certainly makes sense for the Ravens to explore this option.
Granted, trading Jackson would amount to hitting the reset button and it would lead to a few lean years, at least, as Baltimore tries to rebuild its roster and find a new quarterback.
But it's pretty clear that the Ravens have hit a wall and the franchise has been stuck in neutral due to its lack of postseason success that includes just one trip to the conference title game since Jackson became the starter in 2019.
Now, not all of that disappointment is on Jackson's shoulders, but at some point, something has to give and this crossroads situation the Ravens are facing with Jackson in 2026 might be that point.
Jackson's stock isn't at its highest when it comes to a trade after his lackluster and injury-riddled 2025 campaign, but he's still a very good quarterback and would garner multiple high draft picks in a trade, including at least one first-rounder.
That return would no doubt help the Ravens speed up what would be a rebuild.
We've seen so much attention on a handful of uncertain quarterback situations around the league ahead of the offseason and perhaps we need to include the Ravens and Jackson in that conversation.
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