Lamar Jackson headed for franchise tag with Ravens?

There appears to be growing pessimism about the chances of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson signing a long-term contract with the franchise, according to new reports.

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported Friday that a new deal between Jackson and the Ravens is “highly unlikely.” A $35 million annual offer was not enough to get Jackson to sign before the start of the 2021 season, and the quarterback market has only become more valuable since then. The most likely outcome, according to the report, is that Jackson ends up under the franchise tag for 2023.

This was largely backed by a report from Jeff Howe of The Athletic, who also added that many around the league are increasingly curious whether Jackson and the Ravens will wind up going the franchise tag route.

Jackson has been acting as his own agent in negotiations, and thus far he has not shown much interest in sitting down with the Ravens and hammering something out. The Ravens no doubt wanted to have something done by now, and the fact that they don’t seems to be contributing to the increased belief that Jackson may end up going year-by-year.