"What am I missing here?" - JJ Watt, NFL players hint at collusion amid Lamar Jackson drama

The news of Lamar Jackson's franchise tag has attracted a lot of criticism from NFL circles, especially as many teams are reportedly not going to pursue his services.

The Miami Dolphins, the Atlanta Falcons, the Carolina Panthers, the Washington Commanders and the Las Vegas Raiders are all reported to be out on Lamar Jackson. Mind you, these five franchises have major question marks about their quarterback room, which makes it really difficult to understand why they're not interested in a deal.

Since Jackson was assigned the non-exclusive franchise tag, all other teams can submit an offer sheet for him. If he accepts, Baltimore will be allowed to match this offer and keep his services; otherwise, the team that signs Jackson will have to give two first-round picks to the Ravens, plus the obvious mega salary that Lamar will demand.

NFL players, fans and analysts were all baffled by the Ravens' decision not to use the exclusive tag and by the five teams that decided to be out for Lamar's sweepstakes.

JJ Watt said:

"Why are all of these teams so publicly “out” on Lamar Jackson, an MVP winner in his prime at the most important position in the entire NFL? What am I missing here?"

a

What's the problem with the contract of Lamar Jackson?

Many NFL teams decide to lock up their star quarterbacks as soon as possible, but the Ravens waited longer than normal to extend Lamar. Now they're having a ton of problems.

He wants his contract to be fully guaranteed, but as we learned today, teams are not willing to do so. Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti was critical of Deshaun Watson's contract, which was fully guaranteed at signing, due to what that may cause other teams to do:

"I don't know that he should've been the first guy to get a fully guaranteed contract. To me, that's something that is groundbreaking, and it'll make negotiations harder with others."

Lamar is 26 and he's already an NFL MVP who plays the most important position in the game. There's no way that 32 teams can't use a guy like this, even if he demands a fully guaranteed contract to change teams.

It's one of the most baffling things we have seen in a long time, especially as all 32 teams scramble year after year to get the quarterback position right.