The Baltimore Ravens and two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson have paused talks on a contract extension, leaving the star quarterback to open the 2026 season under the deal he signed three years ago.
NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo said the team is not treating the stalled negotiations as a crisis.
“No contract extension for Lamar Jackson but the Ravens aren’t panicking. He’s spending his time — hours on end each day — meeting with OC Declan Doyle to lock in on football, not 💰.”
Baltimore hosts the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in its season opener. Fans had hoped an agreement would land before kickoff, the way Dallas reached a last-minute extension with Dak Prescott on opening day in 2024. That did not happen.
Jackson signed a five-year, $260 million contract in April 2023 after a long and public standoff that included a trade request. The pact made him the highest-paid player in the league at the time.
The problem now sits in 2027. Jackson’s salary-cap charge that season is scheduled to hit $84.3 million, a figure front-office officials have described as unsustainable if they want to keep a competitive roster around him.
Garafolo expanded on the situation during an appearance on “NFL GameDay.”
“No deal done right now, and no talks expected during the season from what I understand,” he said. “There is one more year left on the deal after this, so no one that I talked to in Baltimore is panicking whatsoever.”
The quarterback market has climbed since Jackson last signed. Patrick Mahomes reset the top of the scale this offseason with an average annual value of about $63.1 million. Prescott sits at $60 million. Several others, including Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield, are at $55 million a year.
Longtime agent Mike McCartney has argued Jackson is positioned to go higher.
“I think $70M is the number for Lamar,” McCartney said. “The way I look at it, if I’m Lamar, I’m 17 games away from finding out what I’m worth on the open market.”
Jackson is coming off a 2025 season that fell short of his usual standard. He started 13 games, threw for 2,549 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and ran 67 times for 349 yards. He missed four games with a hamstring strain and a back contusion, and the Ravens finished 8-9, missing the playoffs.
Jackson said afterward that lingering injuries limited how much he could run.
“It really would not [have] put my team in a good position if I was just running hurt — losing yards, things like that [were] happening,” he said. “But whatever it takes to win, that is what I am all about and [I have] always been about that, too.”
People close to both sides insist the relationship remains intact. A league source told The Athletic, “People definitely think there’s beef, but they’re wrong. In the past, and now.”
Jackson has said for years that he wants to stay in Baltimore. After signing the 2023 deal he told reporters, “I wanted to be a Raven. I really wanted to finish my career here and win a Super Bowl here.” This spring he repeated the sentiment: “I love the Ravens. I love this organization. I love this city.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday that the sides will not rush a deal this weekend.
“There will be no last-minute, buzzer-beating, day-of-the-opener lucrative contract extension for Ravens QB Lamar Jackson — the way there was for Cowboys QB Dak Prescott on opening day two years ago, per league sources. Any deal is on hold, likely until 2027.”
Jackson represents himself and has historically preferred not to negotiate during the season. That preference, combined with Super Bowl expectations in Baltimore, has pushed any new agreement toward next offseason.
General manager Eric DeCosta has said he still hopes to have something done before March 2027. Until then, Jackson holds most of the cards. His contract includes a no-trade clause and a provision that prevents the Ravens from using the franchise tag after 2027, meaning he can hit free agency if no deal is reached.
The NFL salary cap has climbed above $300 million per team, giving clubs more room than they had when Jackson last signed. That rising cap is one reason agents believe a new deal could land well above his current $52 million average.
For now the focus is Sunday. Jackson has spent long hours with new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, and teammates describe him as locked in on the Colts rather than the next contract. Baltimore has surrounded him with one of the more talented supporting casts of his career.
How far that group goes will shape the leverage both sides carry into next year’s talks.
