The only difference is that Hurts led Philadelphia to the Super Bowl in February before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. And I’ m not talking about winning 10 or 11 games a season and then losing in the first round of the playoffs, which has become commonplace in Baltimore with Jackson under center. When a player, especially a quarterback, makes this type of money, he.
Now, the fence-mending must begin.
The Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson agreed to a five-year contract extension worth a reported $260 million with $185 million guaranteed on Thursday, making him the highest-paid player in the NFL in terms of average annual salary.
That’s too much money for a player that has just one playoff victory in five years and will make it difficult to invest in other positions, but the Ravens apparently believe Jackson is in the same stratosphere as Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who signed a $255 million contract on April 17.
The only difference is that Hurts led Philadelphia to the Super Bowl in February before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. But that’s all behind everyone now, and so is Jackson’s request for a trade and a fully guaranteed deal.
The hardest jobs belong to Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who has to develop chemistry and create some harmony in the locker room again after a drama-filled saga, and to Jackson, who has become one of the most polarizing athletes in Baltimore history.
Jackson can easily do that by himself — if he wins.
And I’m not talking about winning 10 or 11 games a season and then losing in the first round of the playoffs, which has become commonplace in Baltimore with Jackson under center. When a player, especially a quarterback, makes this type of money, he needs to go deep into the playoffs and at least play in one Super Bowl during the duration of his contract.
If that happens, then Jackson will become endearing to fans again. If not, then his legacy will be tainted as just another disappointment.
In 2000, when then-Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis and two acquaintances were charged with murder before the charge against Lewis was reduced to a less serious one in a plea deal and his co-defendants were acquitted, he was hated everywhere — but not in Baltimore.
