Lamar Jackson's long-term future is in doubt after Baltimore Ravens used their non-exclusive franchise tag on the quarterback - and Jackson has been told he's to blame for failing to agree a new contract.
The non-exclusive tag means that Jackson can still talk to other teams but the Ravens have the chance to match any offer, and if they choose not to they would receive two first-round picks in the NFL Draft. Those options make him an unappealing target for potential suitors - with a high-quality set of quarterbacks heading into the Draft and players like Jimmy Garoppolo and Aaron Rodgers available as free agents.
Jackson was due to be out of contract at the end of this month despite the two parties being in talks over a fresh deal for two years. The former league MVP reportedly snubbed a huge $274million offer from the Ravens over six years, with $133m fully guaranteed - which set off an alert to interested teams. The 26-year-old wanted more guaranteed money after the market-busting fully-guaranteed $250m package the Cleveland Browns inked with Deshaun Watson a year ago transformed the landscape for quarterbacks.
But the reason for the unattractive terms is Jackson's decision not to have an agent - instead negotiating for himself with the help of his mother, Felicia Jones.
And during a segment on ESPN's Get Up, Kimberley A Martin slammed that decision. She said: "The issue with Lamar not having an agent is a big one because an agent will go out there and ascertain who wants you and how much do they want you. They can do that work.
"Let's say Lamar wants 231 because Deshaun Watson got 230. Well, the Brown situation isn't the same as the Ravens'. The Ravens have an owner who literally said 'get me that guy, I want Deshaun Watson come hell or high water.' As we saw 230million is what he got.
"If Lamar Jackson had an agent who could go out and say 'is there another owner out here that wants my guy and is willing to give 230,' and if not then that severely hampers Lamar's negotiating strategy. Not having an agent has really been an issue because Lamar may have miscalculated the market out there for him."
A series of high-profile figures in NFL all tweeted in support of Jackson. "This Lamar Jackson disrespect is OUTRAGEOUS" ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III said. "Lamar Jackson is a Unanimous MVP, has led the NFL in Passing Touchdowns, is 26 years old, is 45-16 as a starter and All the QB needy teams are saying they aren’t interested. Don’t smell right to me."
ESPN colleague Ryan Clark added: "We live in a world where Daniel Jones’ current salary is higher than Lamar Jackson’s. So a former league MVP, 4th in overall wins since entering the league, entering his 5th year & the same age as incoming rookie Stetson Bennet is free to negotiate… but all these teams know before speaking to him that they’re good? Yea right there’s no collusion!"
Recently retired All-Pro defensive end JJ Watt also tweeted: 'Why are all of these teams so publicly “out” on Lamar Jackson, an MVP winner in his prime at the most important position in the entire NFL?' What am I missing here?"
Martin added on the ESPN show: "There are players who have tweeted, from Tyrone Matthews to JJ Watt who said 'this is weird, you have a guy in his prime. Daniel Jones is getting 40million and Lamar Jackson, a former MVP, isn't getting anything'. You have those players tweeting that so a lot of people are thinking 'this is fishy'."
