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Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh stepped to the podium Sunday night and saluted his quarterback for fighting through injuries to lead a spirited effort, albeit in defeat, against the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n
The quarterback whose toughness Harbaugh saluted prominently in his postgame remarks was Tyler Huntley, not Lamar Jackson, whose unavailability six weeks after suffering a sprained knee has fueled speculation about Jackson\u2019s motives in the absence of a contract extension.<\/p>\n
As Baltimore\u2019s season ended with a 24-17 wild-card defeat at Cincinnati, the Ravens\u2019 offseason began with NFL insiders questioning how prominently Jackson figures into the team\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n
The Pick Six column leads with perspectives from around the league on a subject that simmered for weeks before boiling over as it became clear Jackson would miss a sixth consecutive game, this one in the postseason, despite Harbaugh initially suggesting the quarterback might return a month ago. Will the Ravens trade Jackson? What are the alternatives? That and more in this wild-card edition:<\/p>\n
\u2022<\/strong> Lamar Jackson\u2019s future is \u2026 where? It\u2019s been a strange season for quarterbacks, with Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr both leaving their teams after getting benched. The mystery surrounding Jackson remains unresolved, seemingly by design.<\/p>\n The Ravens easily could have shot down the idea that Jackson\u2019s unsettled contract status might be influencing his availability. Isn\u2019t that what Andy Reid would do if Patrick Mahomes\u2019 motives were suddenly questioned? Wouldn\u2019t any coach do that for a quarterback he wanted to protect?<\/p>\n \u201cThat is absolutely how things are done, except for if your last name is Harbaugh, right?\u201d an exec from another team said on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. \u201cThat is what him and his brother do, and there is one more guy who handles business like that \u2014 he wears cutoff-arm sweatshirts with hoodies, and his name is Bill Belichick.\u201d<\/p>\n A decade ago, Harbaugh reportedly clashed with legendary safety Ed Reed over practices that Reed and some players found too intense. Any gap between Harbaugh\u2019s expectations for Jackson and Jackson\u2019s expectations could similarly fall along generational lines.<\/p>\n \u201cHarbaugh is a power coach,\u201d this exec said. \u201cIt\u2019s like it is 1983 and you\u2019re going to get the kid to come back by saying he is an important part of the team and it\u2019s not a serious injury, but that doesn\u2019t work in today\u2019s NFL. He tries to make it coy and tricky, but he wants to exercise power over players, just like the college coaches he comes from and admires.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ravens moved on from Reed after that 2012 season.<\/p>\n Jackson is much more important to the Ravens now than Reed was then, but injuries have sidelined him late in the past two seasons, raising questions about how much money Baltimore should guarantee for the long term.<\/p>\n Jackson is averaging 10.3 rushes and scrambles per start through 61 career starts, by far the most for any quarterback through 61 starts since at least 2000, according to TruMedia. Cam Newton is next at 6.8 per start to the same point in his career, followed by Michael Vick (6.7), Josh Allen (6.0) and Russell Wilson (5.3). Newton produced an MVP season while helping Carolina to the Super Bowl in his age-26 season, but he never reached the Pro Bowl again and began to decline. Jackson turned 26 last week.<\/p>\n \u201cHas he improved as a passer?\u201d an evaluator asked. \u201cSure, but he is a running quarterback, and how is it different than the running back position? It is different in terms of number of hits, but the hits can be worse for a quarterback to take. I just would not commit to him more than a year or two.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson reportedly wanted a fully guaranteed deal like the one Deshaun Watson leveraged from Cleveland when Watson could have signed with other teams. Jackson does not possess that kind of leverage because Baltimore owns his rights through the franchise tag. But he could make the situation in Baltimore untenable if he wished, the way Jalen Ramsey and others have done when seeking out.<\/p>\n Is it really coming to that for Jackson and the Ravens?<\/p>\n \u201cIt is hard to get rid of a player who has helped you achieve so much,\u201d another exec said. \u201cYou can only do that if you have a replacement ready on the roster or if the locker room is like, \u2018We are good without this guy.\u2019 They don\u2019t have the replacement lined up, so it\u2019s going to have to be a thing where the locker room says, \u2018Eh, it is kind of messed up, what he is doing.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n After the Cincinnati game, Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey offered support for Jackson, suggesting the quarterback was limping around the facility at perhaps 50-60 percent of full strength, but Harbaugh has conspicuously allowed perceptions to linger when he could have reset the narrative long ago.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, he is letting Lamar twist in the wind,\u201d this exec said.<\/p>\n “Nothing but admiration for our guys, very proud of our football team.” pic.twitter.com\/ZCSyMbkV44<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 16, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cTyler Huntley, coming in and playing the way he played, coming off the shoulder and the wrist injuries and fighting his way back onto the field and just giving everything he had,\u201d Harbaugh said after the game.<\/p>\n Sean Payton predicted on the Fox pregame show Sunday that Jackson had played his final game with the Ravens. Vick, seated near Payton in the Fox studio, suggested Jackson should have \u201cput a brace on\u201d his knee and gutted it out. Earlier in the week, Ravens receiver Sammy Watkins suggested Jackson might be playing if he had entered into a long-term contract.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not a Lamar apologist, but I don\u2019t think any of us knows what he is going through medically,\u201d the evaluator cautioned. \u201cEverybody is different, and a PCL is a weird ligament, and if there is truly inflammation in there, that is hard to play through.\u201d<\/p>\n An agent thought the coming offseason would be a terrible one for teams needing quarterbacks. That could increase the demand for Carr, who is on the trading block. Tom Brady could be available as a short-term fix. Jimmy Garoppolo\u2019s durability will be a factor teams must weigh. Teams drafting outside the top picks can\u2019t count on that avenue.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will definitely be a market for Lamar if the Ravens want to trade him,\u201d an exec with ties to the Ravens said. \u201cI was thinking maybe Houston. They have a ton of draft capital. Atlanta comes to mind. Lamar going back home to Miami would be amazing if they could find a way.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s all speculation at this point, but it feels less far-fetched all the time.<\/p>\n \u201cI see a divorce unless their doctors are privately telling them Lamar really can\u2019t play because of the injury, which seems doubtful with the way Harbaugh has handled it,\u201d a longtime exec from another team said. \u201cI could see a trade next spring if they can get a high enough pick to get a new QB. Lamar appears to have a ceiling that Jalen Hurts poked through this year. Harbaugh is making it seem like they are tired of the situation. They will never give him the Watson-type contract he reportedly covets.\u201d<\/p>\n Herbert becomes eligible for a new contract this offseason after completing his third NFL season. The Chargers could wait another year or move to get something done earlier. If they enter into a new deal this offseason, they\u2019ll have a year or two with smaller salary-cap charges before the big cap hits make it tougher to build a team around him.<\/p>\n Whatever the case, the Chargers\u2019 31-30 defeat at Jacksonville after blowing a 27-0 lead made Los Angeles the first team since 1999 to lose a game while committing zero turnovers and forcing at least five. Teams had won 101 consecutive games when the turnover dials were cranked to those extremes.<\/p>\n The table below shows postseason records for Herbert and the five other quarterbacks to achieve Tier 1 status since 2014 before signing second contracts. The other five combined for a 17-10 postseason record with one Super Bowl title while still on their rookie deals.<\/p>\n Herbert\u2019s Chargers are 0-1 after their historic collapse.<\/p>\n Playoff Wins While on Rookie Deals<\/p>\n
\u2022<\/strong> Chargers, Herbert and rookie window
\u2022<\/strong> Bengals\u2019 big play joins historic list
\u2022<\/strong> Under-radar Giants move pays off huge
\u2022<\/strong> Officiating is always worse than ever
\u2022<\/strong> Two-minute drill: Allen, Purdy & more<\/p>\n1. Is Lamar Jackson finished in Baltimore? The situation feels increasingly fraught.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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2. Six quarterbacks have achieved Tier 1 status while on their rookie deals since I began polling coaches an executives annually for \u201cQuarterback Tiers\u201d in 2014. The Chargers must regret that Justin Herbert is the only one without a postseason victory.<\/strong><\/h3>\n