Lamar Jackson is on track to turn the quarterback market into something the NFL has never seen before, and one of the league’s top agents thinks the number could land at $70 million per year.
That’s the view from Mike McCartney, who believes Jackson has put himself in a position to control what comes next when his deal gets addressed in 2027. In McCartney’s eyes, that control could extend beyond Baltimore.
Jackson, 29, represents himself, and the timing makes this a standoff that doesn’t need to be settled right now. He’s not talking contract while he’s trying to chase a Lombardi Trophy for the Ravens, and the only public posture he’s taken this summer was saying he was “cool” with the max-restructure Baltimore used instead of the new deal he should have gotten a year ago, when Josh Allen was extended by the Bills.
The Ravens are now paying for a long stretch of hesitation. Jackson sits outside the top 10 in quarterback compensation this season.
He had to go through a franchise tag, a collusion case and a trade demand before finally getting a fair market deal at the end of his rookie contract. Steve Bisciotti even publicly questioned whether Jackson believed he was worthy of a top-of-market contract during the first negotiation cycle, and Baltimore missed the owner’s March deadline to get an extension done.
McCartney, now head of football at VaynerSports and a former Eagles executive, doesn’t see a player with Jackson’s leverage taking anything less than a massive jump.
“(Joe) Flacco, coming off the Super Bowl win right there in Baltimore named his price,” McCartney pointed out “The Daily Flock” (full episode linked below). “You know, Dak (Prescott) named his price essentially. This thing, at the risk of ticking off the Ravens, I think this is going to go to $70 million per year.
“And you know, Lamar … he's at a great age. He does have a couple contracts in him, and if I was involved, I probably would push a shorter one (three-year contract) … Regardless, he's got all the leverage whether it's a longer term or shorter term.”
McCartney’s confidence is rooted in how Jackson has handled the entire mess. The quarterback weathered the franchise tag, the NFLPA’s collusion argument and all the noise around his negotiations, and the result is a deal structure that now puts Baltimore in a corner.
His 2027 contract is effectively voiding, with an $85 million cap hit that forces the Ravens to either deal with it next winter or trade him to a team willing to meet his price. Jackson also has a no-trade clause, giving him control over where he would go, and a no-franchise tag provision that keeps Baltimore from using that tool again to hold onto him.
That is why McCartney sees this as a situation where Jackson can simply wait. Dak Prescott, who McCartney described as a lesser player than Jackson, got to $60 million per year after a major knee injury. Jackson, barring something catastrophic, is positioned to go even higher with whichever team eventually pays him.
McCartney said Jackson has handled his public stance perfectly and that there’s little reason to engage Baltimore this close to Week 1. Jackson seems to be reading the same script, especially with a season looming that includes a new coordinator who has never called plays before and possible trouble spots at center and at pass catcher.
“I’m 17 games from free agency,” McCartney noted, lighting up as he said it. “I'm 17 games from finding out what our market is.
So, you know, like I want to know what the market says. Doesn't mean I'm necessarily looking for Lamar to leave if I'm representing him in this case, right?
“But I still want to know what the market says unless you agree to my number. Now, I wouldn't say it quite that cutthroat. But, you know, that's the reality.”
Baltimore has seen this coming, but it hasn’t moved fast enough to stop it. The Ravens passed on getting ahead of the issue when Allen got paid, and they didn’t reset the market again after Patrick Mahomes got paid. Whatever has kept them from doing it, the effect is the same: the biggest quarterback contract of them all may be coming, and it may not come from the Ravens.
The clock is nearly out on Baltimore’s exclusive leverage. When the Ravens play the Colts a week from Monday, their real contractual control over Jackson is on the verge of disappearing. Eric DeCosta said this week he remains in “communication” with the future Hall of Famer, but Jackson said a few weeks ago that the time to talk contract may already be gone.
DeCosta still called himself “optimistic” about getting an extension done. If the Ravens want to keep that optimism alive, the money had better follow. Otherwise, some other billionaire may be writing the check in a few months.
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