Ravens GM Eric DeCosta shares real reason why Lamar Jackson had no interest from other NFL teams

At the start of the offseason, Lamar Jackson was very outspoken about his contract situation: he felt that the Baltimore Ravens were not treating him as well as they should have during contract negotiations, and not even the franchise tag would appease him.

So he demanded a trade. It didn't matter where; he just wanted out. But no team showed interest in him, and Jackson ultimately recommitted to the Ravens on a record-breaking contract. Why?

Speaking to Pro Football Talk on Wednesday, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said that the non-exclusive franchise tag placed on Jackson wound up being a very important tool during negotiations:

“I think the franchise [tag] is a powerful tool. I mean, anyone will say that, agents will say that, teams will say that, the union would say that. And so that’s exactly right. I think, you know, the fact is we were having a tough time getting a deal with Lamar. Again, we respected his position and his feelings, but we were still having a tougher time.

He also said that other teams balked after realizing that, under the non-exclusive franchise tag, the Ravens could match any competing offers, allowing them to retain Jackson:

But in the end, we felt like our deal, that the deals that we had made, we felt they were credible deals, we felt they were strong deals, and we felt like we were in a position to, not that we could match every single deal, but we felt like we would be able to match most deals and that if a team were willing to do a deal that we couldn’t match would be very hard for that team to do that type of deal."

He continued:

"That’s problematic for other teams. So, in the end, it’s a calculated gamble, I would say. You know, is a team going to go after Lamar Jackson? And if they do, maybe, just maybe, the deal is something we can match which makes life easier for us.”

A brief look at Lamar Jackson's contract dispute with the Baltimore Ravens

Jackson's contract dispute began last year when ESPN reported that he had rejected a five-year, $250 million extension (with $133 million guaranteed), instead seeking a fully-guaranteed deal (a la Deshaun Watson) that the front office balked at. However, he denied the rumor shortly after his team defeated the New York Jets:

But in mid-March this year, Jackson seemingly confirmed the rumors after all, claiming that the Ravens had offered him a fully guaranteed $133 million for three years if he could find an agent. This came two weeks after his trade demand:

How lucrative is Lamar Jackson's new contract?

A month and a half passed without Jackson receiving offers from other teams. Then, a day before the Draft was about to begin, the Ravens announced that they and the quarterback had agreed to a $260 million extension, with $185 million guaranteed.

The extension, which runs for five years, will make Jackson the highest-paid player in the NFL, at $52 million per year. The annual figure is $1 million more than what Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Hurts will receive from his own five-year extension. No details regarding a signing bonus or other incentives have been revealed yet.