When new Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle emphasized the importance of offseason workouts, he didn’t single out any one player.
He didn’t need to.
Doyle undoubtedly was talking about, and to, quarterback Lamar Jackson.
“We would expect [players] to be here and, certainly, it is voluntary,” Doyle said. “But, if you want to say that you’re going to win a championship, you want to say that you have championship standards, and those are your goals and your expectations — certainly that’s going to take work, that’s going to take collaboration, and that’s going to take the beginning of building the relationship with their coaches [and] other players starting off this next regime on the right foot.”
The comment doesn’t entirely mesh with the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which says this: “No Club official may indicate to a player that the Club’s offseason workout program or classroom instruction is not voluntary.”
And while Doyle added that the offseason program is “voluntary,” the full sentence makes the point. They “expect” the players to volunteer.
The voluntary nature of the offseason workouts is a collectively bargained fiction. Still, plenty of players take advantage of the ability to stay away. That’s why teams use workout bonuses or other contractual clauses to induce players to volunteer.
For Jackson, his contract includes $750,000 in annual workout bonuses from 2024 through 2027. He has already given up $1.5 million by not participating in the minimum number of voluntary practices over the past two offseasons.
As the Ravens approach a new league year that will see Jackson’s cap number mushroom from $43.5 million to $74.5 million, the Ravens hope to extend the deal. They also hope, based on Doyle’s comments, that Jackson will choose to show up for the team’s offseason program.
The clock is ticking on a new contract. Owner Steve Bisciotti has said that, without one, the Ravens will exercise their prerogative to restructure the deal and slash the cap number. That likely won’t do much, if anything, to persuade Jackson to not give up another $750,000 in what will be a critical offseason for a brand-new coaching staff. A new, market-level deal could.
Through it all, no one knows what Jackson truly thinks about the new coaching staff. The same as no one knows what Jackson thinks about Doyle applying not-so-subtle pressure to a quarterback who has the power to walk away in two years.
And that’s the bottom line, even if plenty of Ravens fans don’t want to acknowledge it. Jackson can choose to make $104 million (or $102.5 million by skipping the voluntary offseason program) over the next two season and become a free agent. Only a new contract will keep that from happening.
