Lamar Jackson had one word after he officially signed his new deal: “Finally.” He and the Ravens were all smiles at the news conference held on Thursday to officially lock their franchise quarterback down for the next five years.
Last Thursday, the two sides agreed to a five-year, $260 million deal. It made Jackson the highest-paid player in the league, a distinction that had been held by Jalen Hurts for a little over a week.
Jackson and the Ravens have finally taken care of the first order of business. It’s time to get back to winning football games.
Officially Official
The Ravens and Jackson’s long-awaited day finally arrived. The former MVP was smiling ear-to-ear but still dished out serious, bold predictions.
He first said that he wanted to put the ugly trade talks behind him and move forward.
“Today, we’re gonna keep it about the future,” he said when asked about the trade request and public perception of the negotiations. “I’m not really worried about what happened in the past. We’re gonna keep it about these next five years and keep it about what’s going on today.”
He continued, “It’s a business. It’s a business at the end of the day. If you’re gonna represent yourself, you’ve gotta have a strong mind. I wouldn’t say you get out there and out your feelings in it because it’s not about feelings. … It’s a grown-man thing at the end of the day. So you’ve gotta be a grown man if you’re gonna handle business.”
The superstar quarterback also said the consistency Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh showed throughout the process reinforced his desire to remain in Baltimore.
“It means a lot just to have guys, your head coach, and GM, wanting you to be here and believing in you, believing you can help your team achieve the almighty, ultimate goal within football and the NFL football at that,” Jackson said. “I wouldn’t want to go no other place.”
DeCosta also coined one of Jackson’s infamous phrases during the press conference, “EDC, Every Dollar Counts.”
He also gave props to his mother, who helped him get the deal done.
“She is my manager, you know. I felt like she managed me very well, Don’t you think so?” said Jackson. “I thought she did a pretty good job. If anything, you know, we would go back and forth, you know, with terms and stuff like that. But like I said, the language is going to overrun the numbers and stuff like that, and over-trump the numbers and stuff like that. So it was me and her piggybacking off of each other, and we got the deal done.”
Lamar Makes Bold Prediction
The two biggest takeaways from Jackson’s news conference were he really didn’t want to go anywhere and he has high hopes for next season.
“To be honest with you, I really didn’t care for other teams, really,” Jackson said. “I just really wanted to get something done here. I wanted to be here. I was like, man, OK, other teams cool, but I want to be a Raven. … I really wanted to get this done before anything, before my time up and branch off somewhere else. I really want to finish my career here and win a Super Bowl here.”
Jackson also set his expectations moving forward. The Ravens signed Odell Beckham Jr. this offseason, drafted Zay Flowers, and will have Rashod Bateman return from injury. He has noticed all these things and looks to have another breakout season.
“I’m very eager, to be honest with you,” he said. “I think I told someone, I want to throw for 6,000 yards with the weapons we have. … I’m not an individual award type of guy or a stat watcher. I just want to do that because no one has ever done that, and I feel like we have the weapons to do it. We’ve got explosive guys. Like Coach said, the new additions Zay, OBJ, and we got Rashod Bateman, gonna be 100 percent healthy, too. … Can’t forget about Mark Andrews, can’t forget about my boy Mark, and Isaiah Likely. So, I can’t wait to get rolling.”
Peyton Manning set the single-season passing yards record in 2013 with 5,477 yards. If Jackson makes good on his predictions, he would be the first to throw for 6,000 yards in a season, and that would surely help him capture his second MVP award. The Ravens are seemingly loaded on offense if you just take a look at their roster, but the games are played on the field.
