Signing Jaire Alexander can't hurt Baltimore's effort to extend Lamar Jackson's contract
Lamar Jackson spoke it into existence. And the signing of Jaire Alexander could help spark a Lamar Jackson extension.
At a minimum, it can't hurt the Ravens' effort to get a deal done.
In 2023, Baltimore's decision to give receiver Odell Beckham $15 million in full guarantees on a one-year deal absolutely helped mend fences with Jackson - and ultimately to get him signed. Adding Lamar's Louisville teammate only one day after Lamar said publicly to "go get him" becomes a potential building block toward a new contract.
The question becomes whether the Ravens want to get it done before or after the 2025 season. Currently, Jackson has a cap number of $43.5 million, and the team has not exercised its unilateral right to restructure the 2025 pay in order to drive the cap number down.
The target for a new contract could be after the season, since Jackson's cap number shoots to $74.5 million in 2026. The Ravens will again have the right to restructure the deal in order to reduce the cap charge. But the objective, at some point, will be to get a deal done.
The challenge for the Ravens is to get Lamar to do it. Last time around, the two sides weren't able to finalize a contract until after his rookie deal expired, Jackson requested a trade, the Ravens applied the franchise tag, and no other team even brought him in for a visit. With three years left on his current contract, will Lamar feel compelled to do a new deal?
He'll make $42.75 million this year and $52 million in 2026 and 2027. (It'll be $51.25 million each year if he fails to satisfy the minimum percentage of participation in voluntary workouts.) Which means that he can ride it out and make $146.75 million (or $145.25 million) over the next three seasons and see what happens next.
One thing that might not happen is a second franchise tag. Based on his current cap number for 2027 ($74.5 million), the franchise tag would cost the Ravens $89.4 million in 2028.
Arguably, then, time is on Jackson's side even more than it was the last time around. While his fictitious new-money average has slipped to the bottom of the top 10 NFL quarterbacks, the value of his five-year deal from signing remains near the top. He'll make very good money over the next three years, and he quite possibly would have a chance to become an unrestricted free agent.
The Ravens' goal could be to get a deal done before Jackson realizes he's a season or two away from putting the Ravens in the kind of salary-cap checkmate that would allow the two-time NFL MVP to do what Jaire Alexander did on Wednesday - pick his next team.