Lamar Jackson calls out 'false narrative' about leaving Baltimore: 'I love my Ravens'
Lamar Jackson has set the record straight about whether he wants to leave the Baltimore Ravens.
In a tweet Wednesday morning, Jackson declared his love for the Ravens and said that any report about him even thinking about moving on was a "false narrative."
I love my Ravens I don’t know who the hell putting that false narrative out that I’m having thoughts about leaving stop tryna read my mind🙄
— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) March 30, 2022
Jackson said he didn't know who was putting that "false narrative" out there, but it's not really about "who" but about "why." And the why is easy to figure out, especially because Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti talked about it Tuesday: the status of Jackson's contract extension.
Jackson contract extension not close to done
Jackson is playing under his fifth-year option in 2022, which means it's contract extension time. However, Jackson isn't in a hurry to sign one, and according to Bisciotti he probably won't sign one before the start of the 2022 season.
Bisciotti spoke to the media at the NFL owners meetings on Tuesday — the first time Bisciotti has given an interview to reporters in four years — and said that because Jackson has opted to wait to sign his extension, the situation is more complicated than just dollars and years.
Bisciotti called Jackson's decision to wait "unique as hell because everybody expects you to say, 'I've got to get mine now.'"
"The kid is so obsessed with winning a Super Bowl, that I think deep down, he doesn't think he's worthy," Bisciotti said via ESPN. "I think he wants that to say, 'Now, I deserve to be on top.' People can speculate any way they want. I don't think he is turned on by money that much and he knows it's coming one way or the other."
Bisciotti made it clear that he wants to keep Jackson long term. He even discussed a scenario in which Jackson could accept two franchise tags before he decides to sign an extension.
"But it's like, Eric [DeCosta, Ravens GM] can't keep calling him and say, 'Hey, Lamar, you really need to get in here and get this thing done.' That's not a GM's job," Bisciotti said. "Kirk Cousins did it that way. What if Lamar says that? 'I'll play on the fifth year, I'll play on the franchise, I'll play on another franchise and then you can sign me.
"'And that gives me three years to win the Super Bowl so you can make me a $60 million quarterback, because that's where it will be four years from now.' That might be the case, but I don't talk to Lamar. It's not my role. I don't know the answer."
Bisciotti seems content to let Lamar be Lamar, and let him tell the team when he's ready to sign an extension. Bisciotti also doesn't seem to have any fear that Jackson might leave, which Jackson himself confirmed Wednesday with his tweet. The two parties clearly want to stay together in the future, and while that's not as binding as a contract extension, it'll do until one is finally signed.
