Ravens G.M. Eric DeCosta visited with #PFTPM on Wednesday. The primary topic was the team’s ability to finally get a long-term deal in place with quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The full interview is worth a listen. We’ll be posting some of the highlights here.
One question to DeCosta focused on whether he believes teams didn’t pursue Jackson because they thought the Ravens would match any offer sheet Jackson signed with another team.
“I think the franchise [tag] is a powerful tool,” DeCosta said. “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. 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. Not impossible, but very difficult. We already had the $32 million as a placeholder on our salary cap. Other teams didn’t. 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.”
Still, was he surprised no one pursued Jackson, a former league MVP who was available to speak to any team?
“One thing I’ve learned in my almost 28 years now is that every team operates differently,” DeCosta said. “Like, listen, there were many players in this draft that we thought were great players who fell, and there were a lot of players that, you know, we weren’t quite as high on as other teams. And that’s just kind of the nature of the business. Every team evaluates these guys differently.
“We know who we are with Lamar Jackson at quarterback. We know what our record is. We know we’re going to be a tough team to beat every season with Lamar out there on the field. We’re going to be a playoff team with Lamar Jackson with some good players around him. And you know, I’m glad obviously.
“Was I surprised? Probably a little bit, but in the end, every team has to look at who they are, how they’re built, what’s important to them. I always feel like one of the advantages to free agency is when you have a guy on your team, you know exactly who he is, you know how he’s wired, you know what’s important to him. Other teams don’t know that, you know? And so that’s why in my mind, free agency is always a little bit dicey because here we are coveting other players on other teams, and we don’t know very much about them. A lot of times we try to find out, but we don’t. We know Lamar Jackson. We know how he’s wired. We know what resonates with him. We know how competitive he is. And so, for us, it was a no-brainer.”
The Ravens never wavered in their desire to re-sign Jackson. It ultimately came down to finding a structure and amount Jackson would accept. We’ll address the impact of other contracts on the eventual finalization of the Lamar Jackson deal in a separate item.
