When Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti met with reporters following the firing of coach John Harbaugh in January, Bisciotti said the Ravens hoped to have a new contract in place with quarterback Lamar Jackson before the start of free agency. Bisciotti added that, if a new deal wasn’t done by then, they’d restructure the existing deal.
They have.
It’s not a renegotiation or an extension or anything other than a movement of money for cap purposes. Jackson was due to enter 2026 with a cap number of $74.5 million. The contract Jackson signed three years ago gave the Ravens the unilateral ability to convert a portion of his salary into a signing bonus.
He was due to receive a base salary of $51.25 million in 2026. If they reduced his base salary all the way to the minimum of $1.3 million, he received $49.95 million as a signing bonus. With two void years (2028 and 2029), the restructuring would have prorated the $49.95 million over four years.
A maximum restructuring, then, would have resulted in $12.4875 million applying to the cap this year, with $37.4625 million applying to 2027, 2028, and 2029.
If the Ravens hadn’t reserved the right to automatically restructure, Jackson would have had significant leverage. He could have declined to do a “simple restructuring,” even if it wouldn’t have cost him a penny. That would have forced the Ravens to extend his deal or to trade him.
Assuming a maximum restructuring, the Ravens created $37.4625 million in 2026 cap space, reducing his cap number from $74.5 million to $37 million.
Of course, the restructuring comes with a consequence. Assuming a maximum restructuring of his 2026 pay, Jackson’s cap number for 2027 moves from $74.5 million to $86.98 million.
Absent a new deal, the Ravens can restructure again in 2027, pushing a chunk of Jackson’s $51.25 million base salary for next year into 2028 and 2029. Another maximum conversion of $49.95 million, spread over three years (2027 and the two void years), would create $33.3 million in 2027 cap space, reducing his cap number to $53.68 million.
Of course, that would result in a sizable chunk of dead money hitting the books after the contract expires. Based on maximum restructurings this year and next year, the Ravens would have $91.625 million hit the cap after 2027.
“You can play with that money all you want,” Bisciotti said in January. “That’s not what we want.”
They don’t want that because it adds to Jackson’s eventual leverage. They need to extend the contract before it expires, in order to manage what would be a very large cap consequence if/when he leaves as a free agent in 2028.
And, more importantly, they’d need to find a new quarterback.
