Lamar Jackson’s 5th year option will cost Ravens small fortune

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been outstanding since taking over in the middle of the 2018 season. Unfortunately, he’s nearing the end of his rookie deal and with it, the end of his affordable salary. With the 2021 NFL salary cap finally set, we now know what Jackson’s fifth-year option will run Baltimore.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, teams will have until May 3 to exercise the fifth-year option on first-round picks. For Jackson, who was selected with the final pick in the first round, his fifth-year option will cost $23.016 million against Baltimore’s 2022 salary cap. As of right now, that would make Jackson the 18th highest-paid quarterback in the league, just behind Tom Brady.

Part of the reason for the high price tag is the expense of the position to begin with. Quarterback is the highest-paid position on the field, without question. Add to it Jackson’s single Pro Bowl nod and it boosts his fifth-year option value pretty significantly. Had he not been named to any Pro Bowls, Jackson’s fifth-year option would have run the Ravens just $18.858 million — a difference of $4.158 million.

While that’s a significant cost, it’ll likely pale in comparison to the deal Jackson eventually signs with Baltimore. Recent deals for Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, and Dak Prescott have all averaged around $40 million a year, according to Over The Cap. Whether you believe Jackson is at the level of those three players or not, franchise quarterback deals tend to either reset the market or be among the very top of it regardless of their stats. And considering Jackson’s resume thus far it’s easy to see how he could command that type of contract as well.

Jackson is 30-7 throughout the regular season, guiding the Ravens to three trips to the playoffs in three years. He’s shattered records along the way, most notably Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record for quarterbacks. With a league-leading 36 touchdown passes to go with his rushing record in 2019, Jackson won the NFL’s MVP award. Even last season, a down year for Jackson respectively, he still posted the third-best touchdown percentage in the league while also picking up his first playoff win.

If the fifth-year option is a little too rich for Baltimore’s wallet, they could always ink him to a long-term contract extension before then. As noted earlier, that will carry a much larger price tag but it would also give the Ravens the ability to structure the deal in a way that could lower his 2022 cap hit if needed.

This might not be the end of Baltimore’s Super Bowl window but it definitely puts a lot more pressure on the Ravens to build a championship-caliber team around him this offseason to take advantage of his lower cap hit. If Baltimore felt it was up against the cap in previous seasons, it’s only going to get worse when they have to pay one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks his true value.