The dust has settled on the franchise-altering decision to part with John Harbaugh in Baltimore, but another massive priority remains for the Ravens: extending Lamar Jackson.
The quarterback isn't necessarily in need of a new deal; he still ranks seventh in the NFL among all signal-callers in average annual value ($52 million). But because of how his contract is structured, his cap number is scheduled to skyrocket from $43.5 million to $74.5 million this offseason, a value that would account for roughly 25 percent of Baltimore's total cap space in the new year.
The Ravens can lower the total cap hit by signing Jackson to an extension that would push his larger cap numbers further into the future, affording general manager Eric DeCosta valuable cap space to improve the roster. It isn't just a priority -- it's essentially a requirement.
"We want another window, and Lamar knows that," owner Steve Bisciotti said Tuesday, via the team's official site. "I think he is amenable to doing something that mirrors the last deal that he did, although the annual number will be a little higher. But I'm hoping that it's plug in your number in the same contract he signed [in 2023] and move on.
"The urgency of that matters to me because we've got free agents, and I don't want to go into free agency with that hanging over our head. I made that clear to Lamar, and I think he was very appreciative of my stance, and hopefully, willing to work with Eric and not get this thing dragged out into April like it was the last time."
An extension isn't the only path to affordability. DeCosta can restructure Jackson's deal and lower the QB's cap number to the same $43.5 million he played under in 2025 by tacking on void years onto his contract, but it would only amount to kicking the can down a road that already includes two void years (including a $12.5 million dead cap charge) in 2028 and 2029.
Cap gymnastics are common in the NFL, but it's not the route Baltimore prefers to take. They want to secure Jackson's services even longer than his current agreement, which expires after the 2027 season.
"You can play with that money all you want. That's not what we want," Bisciotti said.
To their credit, the Ravens have anticipated this issue. In August, DeCosta said negotiations with Jackson were "ongoing," and Jackson emphatically stated he wants to be in Baltimore for the long haul.
"Absolutely, man. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. I don't even know where that comes from," Jackson said in late December. "We have to focus on winning right now. So, contract talk can be after the season or whatever, but during the season, I'm locked in."
Now, it's a matter of hammering out details -- a process that was incredibly prolonged before Jackson signed his first massive extension in 2023 -- and creating space for DeCosta to chase "a couple big-ticket items."
