Eric DeCosta didn’t exactly pour gasoline on the Lamar Jackson contract fire Wednesday, but he did make one thing clear: the Ravens still believe a deal can get done.
The problem is that belief came with very little substance behind it. Baltimore’s general manager kept sounding optimistic about extending the two-time MVP, yet offered almost nothing to explain why that optimism should feel different now than it has in the past. Meanwhile, Jackson remains on a contract that has already been restructured, and the clock is moving toward a season in which he could be staring at a lame-duck year.
Jackson, who represents himself, is not expected to negotiate during the season and has repeatedly said he is “cool” with his current contract. Owner Steve Bisciotti has already made it clear he wanted a new deal completed before the start of the league year in March. Instead, the Ravens are still trying to get to the finish line while the season is about to begin.
DeCosta brushed off the idea that the uncertainty is a looming issue for the team.
“We’ve dealt with that distraction before,” DeCosta said. “There’s only so much we can do.”
He also said, “I feel good,” about the possibility of an extension, though he later cut off the discussion with, “We would love to get a deal done as soon as possible - Any other questions?” He called it “a different type of negotiation,” pointing to Jackson’s lack of an agent.
Asked about guarantees in quarterback contracts, DeCosta framed Baltimore’s approach as simple: “We look at all of these (QB) deals, and try to deals with our players that are market or market-plus … We try to compensate our best players as well as we can.”
That’s the backdrop to a situation that now feels especially delicate for Baltimore. DeCosta already gave Jackson major leverage with a max restructure, and the quarterback appears more than willing to take the money in front of him this season and wait for 2027, when the next big decision could be his to make.
The Ravens’ kicking situation also remains unsettled, even if head coach Jesse Minter sounded more confident than his general manager. Minter leaned into the idea that Tyler Loop will handle the job in Week 1, but DeCosta made it clear the competition is still real after veteran Jake Moody was added as an option.
“We’ll see how it works out,” DeCosta said. “In the end, it’s a performance business.”
There was also no clean update on Rashod Bateman, who is facing three charges of family violence tied to a June incident involving his three-month-old child and the child’s mother. DeCosta said the team is waiting on the NFL and authorities to finish their review, and he did not have a timeline for when that might happen.
“It’s obviously something we’re very disappointed that we have to deal with,” De Costa said, calling it “a little bit of a distraction.”
On the injury front, defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike is continuing his return from neck surgery in the spring, and DeCosta sounded increasingly encouraged. He said the recovery path is naturally different with an injury like this, but Baltimore still believes Madubuike is moving in the right direction.
“It’s a little longer of a ramp-up than you’d see in some instances,” DeCosta said, “but we feel like he’s right on track. Today was a good day.”
DeCosta added “I’m as encouraged now as I’ve ever been.”
He also acknowledged that the Ravens kept six defensive linemen in part because of the age and injury history in that group.
At cornerback, DeCosta defended the decision to keep Marlon Humphrey, who is the 10th highest-paid corner in the NFL after a rough 2025 season. Baltimore has six corners on the roster, but DeCosta said he has no issue with Humphrey’s $19.25 million salary in the final year of his deal.
“I think he’s going to have a great year,” DeCosta said. “He didn’t have a great year last year. I feel confident he’s going to rebound.”
One of the biggest surprises on the roster came with undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano making the 53-man team. That move caught plenty of people off guard, including those inside the organization who had been weighing a practice squad path. Instead, Fagnano forced Baltimore’s hand, and DeCosta said interest from other teams helped push the decision along.
DeCosta said other teams had interest in acquiring Fagnano via trade, which helped cement their decision to put him on the active roster.
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