TL;DR
A recent NFL ruling found insufficient evidence of collusion among teams regarding quarterback contracts, impacting Lamar Jackson's negotiations with the Ravens. Jackson secured a five-year deal that reset the market in annual value, despite not achieving a fully guaranteed contract like Deshaun Watson's.
Every now and then, a ruling settles a case but opens a much bigger conversation. That's exactly what happened as the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson wade through the waters of constructing a deal that's fair to both sides, but here's what may have flown under the radar. Meanwhile, the NFL Players Association has been working through a collusion dispute.
Per a recent ESPN story, a three-person panel ruled there wasn't enough evidence to prove teams worked together to suppress the fully guaranteed contract values of Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson, and Lamar Jackson. There was speculation of collusion among the owners after Deshaun Watson reset the market with a fully guaranteed $230 million deal.
The panel acknowledged that teams were essentially encouraged to align their approach to quarterback contracts as they "were being invited to participate in collusion." They even labeled the effort "improper", but they also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove that teams took part in that collusion. Here's where Lamar Jackson enters the conversation. When he negotiated his deal with the Ravens, he did so without an agent and leaned on betting on himself and family guidance. He landed a five-year contract that reset the market in annual value.
No, he didn't match the fully guaranteed structure of Watson's deal, but he did earn a ton of money. No one thought much of it at the time. It seemed Watson's deal was an outlier, and Jackson, Murray, and Wilson's deals were more in line with what the market actually suggested.
Now, one could argue that this feels more layered. Did the owners block Jackson from potentially making more? Yes, this is a business. From a business standpoint, the owners may have wanted to ensure that deals like Watson's wouldn't become the norm. That helps this story venture into a gray area, one where something may have existed, but not strongly enough to officially prove that it happened.
Two truths that can exist at once, right?
On one hand, if teams were even loosely aligned in avoiding another fully guaranteed contract, Jackson may have been negotiating within a market that had already set its limits. On the other hand, Watson's deal with the Cleveland Browns has since been viewed by many as yet another blunder by a seemingly snake-bitten organization. Watson's deal has led Cleveland to show signs of regret, and the contract itself has required multiple restructures. That's what makes this so fascinating. Jackson's deal may have been influenced by forces working behind the scenes. We may never know.
Or, how about this? Jackson can sleep at night knowing he simply landed closer to what teams believed was a sustainable market value. The truth likely lives somewhere in between. The case may be closed, but the questions surrounding it are far from settled, at least in the minds of some.
This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: NFL decision sheds new light on past Ravens-Lamar Jackson negotiations
