The Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson have gone all-in on one another with his new contract.
The Ravens have made Jackson the highest paid player in the NFL - and they have both agreed to two clauses that will essentially keep him with the franchise for the entire length of the deal no matter what transpires on the field.
After almost two years of back and forth from the two parties, they finally agreed on an extension for Jackson last month, just a few weeks after the quarterback having requested a trade away from the team.
Following that bombshell announcement from Jackson, it appeared that the player was destined to leave the team with the Ravens meeting with quarterbacks in the NFL Draft to potentially find his replacement.
But after the team signed Odell Beckham Jr, a player who Jackson had asked for the team to bring in, he himself restarted negotiations with the team and finally came to an agreement.
The Ravens have given him the deal that he had asked for - topping Jalen Hurts' recent deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. But it has emerged the contract also includes a no-trade clause as well as a no franchise tag clause. The former indicates a significant commitment from both sides to the next five years, seemingly indicating any animosity has been evaporated.
The latter clause comes after Jackson was franchise tagged in the last two seasons - meaning that he was not given a long-term deal but would have to remain with the team and be fined heavily if he did not report for practice.
The deal also gives Jackson a whopping $135 million at signing, with the cap space spread out across the five years - getting more lucrative towards the end of the deal.
Jackson has already spoken confidently heading into the new season after resigning, with the Ravens following up signing Beckham Jr by drafting explosive receiver Zay Flowers in the first round.
He said: "I think I told someone like man I wanna throw for like 6,000 yards with the weapons we have.
"And I’m not an individual award-type guy or a stat watcher, I just want to do that because no one’s ever done it and I feel like we have the weapons to do it."
Jackson also admitted that while he did hand in a trade request, he never truly wanted to leave the team and hoped it would steer the Ravens to give him the contract that he'd deserved.
Jackson has been one of the better quarterbacks in the league since 2019 - when he won the league MVP.
