Eight years ago, the Ravens hit the reset button, naming Eric DeCosta as only the second general manager throughout the team’s tenure in Baltimore and drafting a quarterback who would eventually take over for 10-year starter Joe Flacco. This offseason, the franchise named Jesse Minter as only the fourth head coach in Ravens history, and it seems an identical changing of the guard behind center was explored, as well, in accordance with Jason La Canfora of Sports Illustrated.
Per La Canfora, an NFL general manager informed him that Baltimore was one in all “two teams that quietly did essentially the most work on quarterbacks who have already got franchise quarterbacks.” While it’s natural to see that, after releasing backup Cooper Rush shortly into free agency, having only two quarterbacks on the roster makes adding, on the very least, some camp arms a priority. The Ravens did just that after the 2026 NFL Draft concluded, but La Canfora’s report refers more to the likelihood that Baltimore could’ve used precious draft capital looking for some possible contingencies should they not give you the chance to succeed in an extension agreement with star passer Lamar Jackson.
Jackson has been the team’s starter since taking on halfway through his rookie yr in 2018. Over that point, the previous Heisman Trophy-winner has won two MVP awards, delivered three first-team All-Pro campaigns, and brought his team to the postseason in six of eight tries, reaching the AFC Championship only once. He currently ranks second in most of the franchise’s passing records (behind Flacco) while also rating second in most of the franchise’s rushing records (behind Jamal Lewis).
Jackson is ready to enter the 2026 NFL season on the second-to-last yr of a five-year, $260MM extension the team signed him to in 2023. The method that landed him on the historic contract was a rocky one to say the least. A yr after exercising the fifth-year option on Jackson’s rookie contract, the Ravens attempted to ink Jackson to an prolonged contract, but having just missed the last 4 games of the season and having notched a career-high 13 interceptions, the dual-threat passer turned them down, selecting to bet on himself under the idea that he could add value to any potential extension over one other season of play.
As a substitute, Jackson’s 2022 campaign saw him miss the ultimate five games of the yr, complicating contract negotiations a bit. Unable to succeed in a consensus early into the offseason and with Jackson’s rookie deal coming to an end, the Ravens opted to put a non-exclusive franchise tag on their star quarterback, allowing outside teams to supply Jackson with contract offers knowing that the Ravens would have the flexibility to either match the offer or be compensated with draft capital in the event that they allowed Jackson to walk. That stalemate ended — after some suspected league-wide collusion — when Jackson signed the five-year deal that’s now threatening to finish his time in Baltimore.
While the negotiations to maintain him in purple and black this time around haven’t been so visibly contentious, it’s clear the 2 sides have been unable to return to a consensus. There’s been wide belief in recent weeks that, should the Ravens fail to ink Jackson to a different long-term deal within the offseason, it could spell the top of the pair’s longtime union. La Canfora’s report seems to support that notion because it paints an image of a Baltimore front office doubting its ability to secure Jackson for the longer term.
The Ravens’ moves post-draft have been those of a team employing camp arms for an offseason program that has, historically, not seen much of Jackson. In the meanwhile, there are five arms in Charm City, consisting of Jackson, primary backup Tyler Huntley, veteran free agent addition Skylar Thompson, and undrafted rookies Diego Pavia and Joe Fagnano. Not one of the 4 currently within the room with Jackson pose much threat of giving the Ravens enough confidence to maneuver on from Jackson, but had they succeeded in what La Canfora claims they were attempting to do within the draft, the story may need looked a bit different.
The opposite team the NFL GM mentioned above that did work on quarterbacks was the Eagles, who did find yourself drafting a solid passing prospect in North Dakota State’s Cole Payton within the fifth round. The assertion concerning Baltimore isn’t that they were trying to take a late-round flyer; as a substitute, the GM source asserts the Ravens were doing their homework on the likes of Miami’s Carson Beck, Penn State’s Drew Allar, and Arkansas’s Taylen Green. These were late-Day 2, early-Day 3 considerations that ended up landing with teams in insecure quarterback situations where they’ve greater than a slight likelihood to make an impact.
La Canfora’s GM and a second personnel executive source consider the Ravens were high on Green, whose rushing abilities most-resemble those of Jackson. The imposingly athletic passer ended up landing in Cleveland, where Jackson’s most up-to-date offensive coordinator has just began his first tenure as an NFL head coach. Having failed to accumulate any quarterbacks with much promise, the Ravens can simply brush these notions under the rug as they proceed their efforts to persuade Jackson to remain. If things had lined up otherwise, though, it seems there was a likelihood that DeCosta, Minter, and Co. could’ve used a draft pick on a quarterback contingency plan as a substitute of furthering efforts to win now with the present roster makeup.