Collusion or not, the Non-Exclusive Franchise Tag was the right move for the Ravens
After a 2022 offseason which saw a multi-team bidding war break out for Deshaun Watson - directly in the wake of all of his off the field allegations coming to light – you would think that the very next year a quarterback with a clean record in every facet, and arguably a better resume, would fetch the very same interest in a similar situation. In fact, you’d probably expect even more teams to get involved considering all of that.
Such was not the case for Lamar Jackson, who’s continued contract standoff with the Ravens reached an inflection point on Tuesday when the team placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on the star quarterback. By now, we all know what this means – as of next Wednesday, March 15th, any team in the league is free to negotiate a contract with Jackson which the Ravens have the right to either match, or accept two first round picks in exchange for letting him sign (the Ravens and Jackson have until July 17th to negotiate a long term deal before he’s officially on the tag at $32.4 million for 2023).
Lamar’s pursuit of a fully guaranteed contract that exceeds Watson in value means that things aren’t quite as cut and dry as some may insinuate, i.e. those who say teams should be tripping over themselves to pay that price in picks to then take that that type of contract onto their books. Having said that though, the laundry list of teams who were immediately reported as out on the former MVP leaking so quickly was fishy to say the least. The term collusion (not for nothing, a hot button one in this country over the last several years) was immediately thrown around in reference to the cabal of NFL owners who aren’t keen to follow in the footsteps of their maligned colleague Jimmy Haslam by dishing out a fully guaranteed mega deal that would require hundreds of millions of dollars in cold hard cash being placed into escrow.
This debate raged early and at a high volume on Tuesday, and will continue to do so until Jackson finally puts pen to paper on a deal that fairly compensates him for his incredible talents and resume that he’s put together thus far. But regardless of business ethics (or lack thereof) involved in the situation at this moment, one thing has become clear – Eric DeCosta’s gamble of placing the non-exclusive tag on Jackson was a worthwhile one, as it’s now brought some much-needed momentum to a situation that had ground to a screeching halt.
One thing you may have heard DeCosta allude to is the fact that it takes two to tango. This is likely a light acknowledgement of the rumors that Jackson and his camp have been largely radio silent regarding negotiations of late, a development that probably has to do with the fact that he has no interest in moving off of his number, and Baltimore’s front office has no interest in paying it. And it’s because of this that DeCosta found the right approach to take here, and he took it in the face of some considerable risk.
To apply the exclusive franchise tag to Lamar simply would’ve been a continuation of this stalemate, setting his 2023 cap number at a market value $45 million dollar figure – the supposed advantage is that the Ravens would be able to negotiate their own terms for a trade, and ideally net a return in the neighborhood of what the Broncos got for Russell Wilson one year ago to this day, as an example. But after one year in which Wilson looked like he couldn’t hit the ocean from the beach, and brought a massive PR firestorm with him wherever he went, that trade (which included quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and a 2022 fifth-round selection) is looking like a massive flop.
Ditto in this regard is the Watson swap, which while cravenly structured by Cleveland’s brass to be as much of a long-term rehabilitation project as anything before it really pays dividends, didn’t look all that promising last year either. Unlike Wilson, Jackson is still in the prime of his career, and unlike Watson, he’s a clean character guy – but when the money he’s asking for combines the complications of a trade (especially after those two pearlers last offseason), it’s reasonable that there might be some trepidation to both pony up two first rounders, and grant exactly what he’s asking for from a money standpoint.
Thus, here we stand. It’s possible, and maybe even probable, that one of these billionaire owners will allow their desperation to get the better of them, causing them to break formation from the (alleged) phalanx of collusion we all just probably witnessed yesterday. But even with the pressure of not being the first man to follow in Haslam’s footsteps, it would still be a lot in trade compensation, and a hell of a lot more cash in escrow to acquire Jackson without much of a hitch. And even if this does happen, the Ravens will still retain the right of first refusal on whatever deal is sent Jackson’s way.
We’re still early in this thing, and a whole hell of a lot is still primed to happen. But after several months of taking body blow after body blow from a public relations perspective, both in these negotiations, and in other situations as well, the Ravens appear to have struck the exact right key here. Time will tell who the real winner is in this continued cold war, but for now, the victory in this battle was a much needed one for Eric DeCosta and company.