MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Well, to my knowledge there still isn’t anyone interested, so I don’t think much negotiating is taking place. The first team to show a sign of life, they will be plastering it all over social media to drum up more interest.

 

It just further cements how fricking stupid Lamar is. You're willing to let someone call on your behalf but not willing to hire an agent to do it for you. An agent whom does this for a living, has experience doing it, has relationships with all these teams.

 

Actually I shouldn't use the word stupid. I think it's more arrogance. Even after two injury-laden mediocre seasons he thinks the league should be falling over themselves to sign him.

It will be very interesting what happens next. Does Baltimore pull their last offer off the table? Do they even continue to negotiate with a clear leverage advantage? Does Lamar refuse to play on the tag?

 

At this point, the smartest play for Baltimore would be to prepare for life without Lamar, IMO.

Get your ducks in a row with the understanding that no matter how it turns out, your future will not be hinged to a player that may or may not have sat out at the end of last year because of the contract (not the injury), and has apparently not been looking to work in good faith with the organization.

No team should ever hinge all of their identity or fortune to one player, or coach, that is not entirely committed to the program over self (see: Packers).

 

I agree with you guys (Tim, Beach). A lots of mocks have Baltimore going WR in round 1 at #22... they may be wise to consider trading up and going QB... I dont think they have much choice. Not too many FA QB's left that I see running that Ravens offense and is Huntley or Brown even capable?

Its imperative they get a QB soon, imo. Kinda sucks to see the Ravens get all discumboobulated by the Lamar situation, even watching Lamar shoot himself in the foot is weird.

Bottom line is to get desperate NOW to find/sign/trade up and move on.

 

(see Texans….then subsequently the Browns who couldn’t see it themselves)

 

Report: Russell Wilson had arthroscopic knee surgery after 2022 season



Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson may be healthier in 2023.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Wilson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee after the 2022 season. The procedure was to correct a nagging issue that had affected Wilson for the last few seasons.

Rapoport adds that Wilson is already throwing and should be able to participate in OTAs later this spring and will be fine for the 2023 season.

Wilson is looking to rebound under new head coach Sean Payton after a disastrous 2022 season. He completed a career-low 60.5 percent of his passes for 3,524 yards with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also rushed for just 277 yards with three touchdowns.

Wilson, 34, also rushed for just 183 yards with two TDs in 2021.

With a new head coach, the Broncos can begin their offseason program on April 3.

PFT

 

Its strange how the QB's, Jackson and Rodgers seem to be holding 3 teams hostage, at least tying their hands from moving on and forward. Locker room moral is being effected also from what ive read... teams and staff would probably like to know who their starting quarterback is going to be. I dont have an idea on how to resolve this, but you'd think owners and GM's just might be working on this soon if not already.

 

Ozzie Newsome: Ravens’ owner said Deshaun Watson’s contract created some problems

Since the Browns signed Deshaun Watson to an unprecedented fully-guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract last year, other owners have refused to follow suit on guaranteed contracts. And Ravens Executive Vice President Ozzie Newsome is acknowledging that his team sees Watson’s contract as a stumbling block to getting things done with Lamar Jackson.

Newsome, who was the Ravens’ General Manager for 17 years before stepping back to the Executive V.P. role in 2019, said on the Bernie Kosar Show that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti views the Watson contract as a problem.

“Every club has to do what they have to do with contracts,” Newsome said. “I don’t worry about what other people do, but our owner did say that contract did create some problems. We have to figure out if that’s going to be the norm or is that an outlier. We don’t know.”

Bisciotti and other NFL owners don’t want to see Watson’s contract become the norm, and the NFL Players Association has accused the owners of colluding to prevent fully guaranteed contracts from becoming the norm.

Jackson remains unsigned two weeks after the Ravens placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on him, and his desire for a bigger guarantee than any owner wants to pay appears to be the primary reason he hasn’t signed with either the Ravens or any other team.

PFT
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Well, In my opinion, The Browns screwed up (specifically the Haslams) with the Watson contract, so bad on them. Im almost certain if the other owners were aware of that situation they would have attempted to pull back on the reins... at least communicate that a contract like that would have the potential to open the proverbial can of worms and set the bar or standard too high, but that didnt happen and if the owners were aware of that contract and didnt or couldnt do something, bad on them.

And of course the NFLPA is pulling out the collusion card, because they have to... I guess they dont realize the good ol' boys (owners) have been colluding since day 1, its nothing new.

Then there's Lamar... He see's someone else get the fully guaranteed contract, covets it and the rest is history.

If you are going to play the blame game, Blame the owners and greedy QB's like Lamar. On the owners colluding, they need to take a collusion 101 course and get much better at it. After the Watson contract there is much documentation that the owners around the League were upset and worried about the problems this Watson deal was going to create.

 

Now THAT would have been colluding if they interfered with the Browns negotiations.

I don’t think the fact no other club wants to do such a stupid deal is collusion, it’s just good business practices.

 

But the only people who thought it was good business was the Haslams after all was said and done... oh well, its done now.

 

Key question... has it actually been confirmed that this joker really was part of Lamar's camp?

 

I think the NFL's letter probably reads a lot differently if he wasn't.

Either way I was listening to Pat Kirwan on NFL radio the other day. He said while the max an agent can get is 3% a deal the size Lamar would sign would get done at 1%. So all this nonsense for 1%?

 

NFL memo warns teams they are prohibited from negotiating with non-NFLPA-certified agent concerning Lamar Jackson

The NFL on Thursday sent a memo to all 32 clubs notifying them of a person who may be reaching out to teams to negotiate a deal for Lamar Jackson, whom the Baltimore Ravens placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on earlier this month.

The man in question, Ken Francis, "may be contacting clubs ... to enter negotiations with or concerning Lamar Jackson," according to the memo distributed across the league and obtained by NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero. The league stated Francis is "prohibited" from talking to teams on Jackson's behalf.

The biggest issue with Francis' alleged attempts to talk to clubs is the fact he is not certified by the NFL Players Association. It is well known that Jackson does not have an agent, and Francis is not permitted to act as Jackson's agent, per NFLPA operating standards.

"The NFLPA has informed us that a person by the name of Ken Francis, who is not an NFLPA certified agent, may be contacting Clubs and attempting to persuade Club personnel to enter into negotiations with or concerning Lamar Jackson, who is currently under a Nonexclusive Franchise Tender with the Baltimore Ravens," the memo stated.

"As an uncertified person, Mr. Francis is prohibited from negotiating Offer Sheets or Player Contracts, or discussing potential trades on behalf of any NFL player or prospective player or assisting in or advising with respect to such negotiations.

"Clubs are reminded that, under Article 48 of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, an Offer Sheet, which may result in an NFL Player Contract, may only be negotiated with the player, if he is acting on his own behalf, or with the player's NFLPA certified agent. To be clear, Mr. Jackson is not currently represented by an NFLPA certified agent.

"Violation of this rule may result in disapproval of any Offer Sheet or resulting Player Contract entered into by Mr. Jackson and the new Club."

Francis most recently was pitching a home fitness invention prior to allegedly attempting to negotiate a contract for Jackson, per Pelissero.


Jackson responded to the release of the NFL memo via Twitter on Thursday, writing "Stop lying, that man never tried to negotiate for me." Jackson then posted a commercial on Twitter for a home fitness equipment he is releasing this summer with Francis.

Jackson's non-exclusive franchise tag, valued at $32.416 million, means he can negotiate with other interested teams and sign an offer sheet. The Ravens will have the first right to match any signed offer.

In order to receive an offer, Jackson will have to communicate directly with any interested club, not through Francis, or any other individual who is not certified by the NFLPA.

NFL.com

 

NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday morning that the Lions are waiving Blough after he made the initial 53-man roster, per a source informed of the decision.

The Lions already have a replacement lined up. The team is signing former 49ers QB Nate Sudfeld to back up Jared Goff, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. The team officially announced both moves later Wednesday morning.

 

This is the interesting part. Quite likely that Lamar didn't instruct him to contact teams but rather that this clown did it on his own, perhaps trying to impress his new business partner.

 

I'll also point out that Jackson isn't necessarily a total idiot (assuming that this other clown isn't really acting under his instructions). Mostly an idiot, but not 100%.

The trick is he's already sitting on the franchise tag, so he already has $32.4 million fully guaranteed for 2023 in hand and stands to be a free agent again in 2024. Throw in all factors surrounding him closing out the 2022 season, and you could make a pretty strong case that playing out 2023 under the tag and then seeking his long term deal next year is (and has been since his midseason injury) a strategy worth *strong* consideration.

It's a roll of the dice, but if he can actually make it through the season next year - and maybe do a better job of PR - the 2023 tag plus a 2024 long term deal stands to be better for him than a 2023 long term deal.

I just don't know if he's sharp enough to land on that as an actual strategy. If that turns out to be the game plan, look for him to hire an agent around the start of the regular season.

 

Playing on the Tag in 2023 is just going to set himself up for the Tag in 2024 @ 38.8M (20% raise) and possibly 2025 @ 56M (44% raise). That becomes a 3 year deal averaging 42.4M for the Ravens. Pretty sure they'd take that deal right now.

 

I forget where I read it or I'd share but a former GM was talking about the money Lamar has already lost by not having an agent using the Josh Allen contract as a guide. Allen, like Lamar was drafted in 2018. Unlike Lamar, Allen received his extension after his 3rd season. There wasn't much of a leadup to the extension because it was being worked on behind the scenes with an agent.

In the first two years of that contract ('21, '22) Allen received 60M compared to Lamar's 25M over the same time period. Allen's guarantees were only 100M at signing but with escalators that number is already over 150M and they will continue in March of the next two seasons.

The Ravens are on record as trying to work out an extension prior to Lamar's 4th season but he had no interest. He had no interest because he didn't have someone helping him to understand that the money he gave up in '21 and '22 is NEVER coming back. It's gone.

 

Very interesting and crazy all in one. Lamar is killing himself. I havnt seen that perspective before, wonder if the brass in Baltimore have even tried to communicate such a thing as that and where are Lamars 'friends', 'advisors', mentors as in other QB's that may have been able to splain that to Lamar? Sure is a headscratcher.