As the Ravens juggled the salary cap and ways to clear more space, the biggest piece of the puzzle is two-time MVP Lamar Jackson.
Head Coach John Harbaugh talked Monday at NFL owners meetings about the need for the Ravens to get a deal done with Jackson at some point in the near future.
“There’s been conversations
about that internally, I know. How far along that is or whatever, I don’t know,” Harbaugh said.
“That’s going to continue to have to be addressed, really with all those guys. You have to manage that dance, the salary-cap dance. Lamar is the main part of that because he’s the franchise player. That’s a possibility, I think. Sooner or later, definitely it’s going to have to happen.”
Jackson signed a five-year, reported $260 million deal during the 2023 offseason that made him the league’s highest-paid player. He has a salary-cap hit of $43.5 million in 2025, per overthecap.com, and his cap hit would jump to $74.5 million the next two years.
The Ravens have a number of players worthy of large contract extensions, including safety Kyle Hamilton, center Tyler Linderbaum, outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, and more. Getting Jackson’s extension done will help frame the picture for checking other boxes in what will be a critical 2026 offseason.
Jackson has the NFL’s fourth-highest salary-cap hit among quarterbacks this season. His average salary per year of $52 million currently ranks ninth in the league, per overthecap.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen signed another contract extension on March 9. It was a six-year reported $330 million contract with $250 million guaranteed, putting him at $55 million per year that was tied with the Bengals’ Joe Burrow, Packers’ Jordan Love, and Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence behind the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott ($60 million).
Asked how valuable he would estimate Jackson’s contract to be, Harbaugh was clear.
“The value is the top,” Harbaugh said. “When Lamar gets paid, he’s going to be the highest-paid player in football, just like he was last time. I think every contract he signs till he decides to hang up his cleats, he’s going to be that guy.”
