Without an extension, the clock is ticking for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens

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Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti didn’t want contract extension talks between quarterback Lamar Jackson and general manager Eric DeCosta to extend into April like they did in 2023. It is now the end of July, and training camp begins later today.

Where things stand is anyone’s guess.

Jackson doesn’t have an agent and does not discuss negotiations with reporters.

“I never discuss my contract up here,” Jackson said from the practice podium in 2024. He has repeated that sentiment several times since.

DeCosta rarely provides details, wanting to keep the conversations private. New head coach Jesse Minter has followed DeCosta’s lead.

Bisciotti shed the most light on what’s going on behind the scenes with his comments in the press conference he held in January following the firing of coach John Harbaugh.

“We want another window, and Lamar knows that,” he said. “I think that he’s amenable to doing something that mirrors the last deal he did, although the annual number will be a little higher, but I’m hoping that it’s [going to be] plug a new number into the same contract he signed last year and move on. And 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. And I made that clear to Lamar, and I think he was very appreciative of my stance.”

Jackson, though, blew through that deadline.

That forced the team to restructure Jackson’s deal to make his 2026 cap hit more manageable. Jackson has said he wants to remain in Baltimore, but as things stand, he is only signed through 2027.

Let’s break down the contract situation.

The contract

In 2023, Jackson signed a five-year, $260 million contract extension, with $135 million of that money guaranteed at signing. More guaranteed money was triggered over time (for example, $29 million of his 2026 salary became guaranteed to him on March 15), and he’s now earned $185 million in guaranteed money.

At the time of signing, the contract was the highest in average value per season ($52 million) out of all NFL players.

Heading into the 2026 season, Jackson’s cap hit (salary plus prorated bonuses) was a whopping $74.5 million, which would have accounted for 24.55% of the Ravens’ cap.

Without an extension, the Ravens restructured Jackson’s contract at the onset of the new league year to make that number more manageable at $34.39 million.

The restructure

The Ravens and Jackson announced the restructure as an agreement they had come to, but Bisciotti had already revealed his real feelings about the maneuver during that press conference.

“You can play with that money all you want,” he said. “That’s not what we want.”

Restructuring amounts to an accounting mechanism that teams can use to redistribute the money they owe a player against the cap. They’re still paying the same amount, but the numbers will look different year-to-year.

In this case, the Ravens converted most of Jackson’s salary, which would be paid out over the course of the 2026 season, into a bonus that has already been paid but can be prorated over five seasons when they count it against the cap. Now, his salary is $1.3 million, and the rest of it is in a $49.5 million bonus that is prorated at $9.9 million every year through 2030, according to Spotrac.

But Jackson’s contract ends in 2027, so the prorated bonus creates three void years in the contract. Void years help a team spread out dead money (which has been paid to the player but not yet accounted for against the camp). But if a team doesn’t re-sign a player ahead of the first void year, the dead money accelerates onto that year’s cap.

The Ravens’ salary cap is tight in 2026. Wait until you see 2027.

What this means is that Jackson’s 2027 cap hit is now scheduled to be an unmanageable $84.34 million. And if the Ravens don’t sign an extension with Jackson, all the money spread out through 2030 will accelerate onto the 2028 season, resulting in cap hit of $42.47 million — even thought Jackson is not playing for the team.

The negotiating situation

Jackson has always had incredible leverage because of who he is — a one-of-one player who the team hopes retires a Raven.

But this restructure has given him even more leverage. The Ravens have every incentive to get a deal done, while Jackson can wait it out. There’s also no way for the Ravens to trade him (he negotiated a no-trade clause), or force him to stay via franchise tag (he negotiated that into his last deal, too.)

Meaning Jackson is free to bet on himself, and on the ever-rising salaries for his contemporaries. If he bounces back from an injury-riddled season, he can command even greater numbers. Even if he doesn’t, the Ravens don’t have a clear path to moving on from him without an onerous cap hit that would make future roster-building difficult.

The last contract

Jackson agreed to his last deal in April 2023, and was unable to dodge contract questions at the ensuing press conference.

At the time, Jackson said he wanted to get the extension done before the season because they had been going back and forth for years and he was tired of it. This time around, it’s July and there’s much football work ahead because Jackson must acclimate to a new head coach and offensive coordinator.

Jackson has said on multiple occasions that he wants to finish his career in Baltimore. And so far, he seems to be enjoying working with his new boss, Jesse Minter.

“He’s a cool coach, man,” Jackson said in June. “He always has a smile on his face. I just told him on the field today, I’m like, ‘Every time I come in the building, you’re always smiling.’ You don’t know what Coach is thinking about; he just has a smile on his face, and that’s great to have.”

As of May, Jackson still said he envisions himself as a Raven for the long term.

“Absolutely,” Jackson said. “I love the Ravens. I love this organization. I love this city. This is the team that drafted me, so [this city has] a lot of love for me — I believe — and I have a lot of love for the city and this team, as well. So, like I told you, the restructure is done, and I’m cool with that, but I love Baltimore. Everybody should know that by now.”

They also know that Jackson has blown through one deadline for a new deal set by the team’s owner — and that his price is assured to keep rising.