This is voluntary
or more Jackson's. Not out here. Have you talked to him?
Or do you have a
sense of his plan over these weeks? Yeah, we've been, we've
been down this road many times right through the years. So
I just let them are speak for himself on that for him to talk
about you can ask him. John traditionally quarterback is
kind of that exception. We know veterans aren't here
voluntarily
quite often, but
is it a concern not having them here?
It's not for me to speak for somebody else on that. You
know, it's it's a it's up to him to speak for himself on
them.
John Harbaugh Ravens coach playing at the way that he has
to play it. Not allowed to say, or do anything to create
the impression that
participation in offseason workouts, his anything, but
voluntary, even the OTAs. Now, we have talked this week, Chris
about a variety of players,
each of whom had with the exception of Aaron Rodgers.
An important business reason for not being there
short-term long-term contractual.
Expectations. Where this Debo? Samuel, wanting his. Now
whether it's calamari. We're going to talk about him
a little bit, wanting his long-term. Security Aaron
Rodgers. No reason for him. Frankly
not be there, especially when you consider the current state
of their receiver room. He should be there you and I agree
on that even though it is voluntary Lamar Jackson. This
just adds to this weirdest thing ever
mystery, right? Lamar Jackson take our money. No, thanks
Lamar Jackson, you know, you play the quarterback position
in a highly physical. Way that expose you to the risk of
injury that most other quarterbacks don't have, so
you'd probably better take our money before something happens,
that would cause us to not want to give you
that money, or anyone else to want to give you a funny
enough. Thank you. I'm fine. Refuses to engage the team,
pushes back against the idea that he wants out. When people
try to figure out why it is, they
won't take the team's money and is instead working his way
toward the Kirk Cousins to franchise tags and out
the door. If it even gets to that point. A point, I think
the Ravens get exasperated and trade him before it gets to
that point, don't know
that. But I think that happens before they'd ever go to
straight years under the franchise tag. And the first
tag year is next year. Now, on top of it. He's not there for
the OTAs,
Hollywood Brown is gone.
They're trying to get Rashad Bateman
into that number one, receiver roll. You got other guys in there
and Lamar Jackson, ah participating in the OT age and
injuries and the end of last year, players hurt him hurt.
Their, they lost continuity that way. Sorry, I didn't mean
to cut you off. I just added. Oh, you're fine.
Harbaugh. And number one did the right thing because coaches
can't say anything to suggest. It's not voluntary. But number
two,
it's the perfect way to 2 T this up
like hey Lamar can speak for himself, and I'd kind of like
to hear what he has to say. Yeah. I don't know saying
I feel like that's what he was. Yeah, right. I'm I don't know
why the hell he's not here
as he told us. Yeah,
I asked him because he won't tell me. Yeah,
I mean you said it right. It just it as To the weirdness.
I don't get it. I don't the whole thing, the contract situation,
and
I don't understand again. I know Lamar Jackson, he's a hard
worker. He's dedicated. I know, I don't doubt that. He's not
getting his work done, wherever he's at right now in South
Florida or wherever
I don't doubt that. I think he's fully invested in
the sport, but I still don't understand why he wouldn't be
there, you know, for all the reasons you said first off and,
you know, again,
sometimes I just I boil it down to like,
Go back to, I've heard Lamar Jackson said he wants to win,
Super Bowls. You want someone a bunch of Super Bowls. I mean,
I think there was a time where he was like, I want to be like,
Brady
remember him saying that early in his career. Well Brady
wouldn't be missing OTAs and your for of his career. I just
that's where I want to say to some of these young
quarterbacks. They always, I hear Lego. I want to be like,
Brady, when I have a career, like, Brady.
Well, then do it. Brady does,
Brady didn't miss an OT, a until he had played in four
Super Bowls and you know, started to get married and then
started to miss a few OTAs, but then things didn't go. Oh, that
great in 2010 and 11 and 12. And you know what, he started
to doing. I'm going to be back at OTAs. I'm gonna get a
little bit better and we need this.
That's where just from the football standpoint. I
just don't get it. I don't it all
at one point. The owner of the team, Steve Bisciotti said that
he believes and I think this is the message he has sent that
Lamar Jackson is committed to having the best possible season
he can
Winning a Super Bowl
and then that's when he deserves a second contract. So
if that's true, he should be there. If if he's motivated to
have the best season ever, before he earns the contract
that he already has earned. Yeah, but if he thinks there's
more he needs to do to earn that contract. Then you should
be there. 100% if you're all in, if you're committed, if
this is all about having the
best possible, Lamar Jackson season that you can have,
then you should be there because
otherwise it makes no sense. Well, yeah,
exactly. And and to couple, you know, like you, you laid it
out, you know, get new tight ends, got a new receiver.
You're trying to work here. Some other receivers are trying
to break in,
and at, and in all honesty to, here's the other part of it
that last year was Lamar Jackson's worst year of his
career so far. He did not play as good as he's played previous
to that. He was not the same guy. I mean, he stole electric.
And one of the biggest difference makers in the world.
I get that but still
had more moments of inconsistency
and not playing to the Lamar Jackson type level to where
I would think that would add to. Let me get back in there and
let's get back in the lab and start working out here. So,
that's where, you know, I'm just, I'm really surprised
because I just, I don't think,
I don't feel like it was, it's in his DNA to be like this or
whatever. Maybe he just has taken a few days off. Maybe he
just went to having him as the first three OTAs. I don't know,
but
still Still seems odd to me and I'm with you. I think he should
be there
but he still knows what message that sends our, he shouldn't he
should know, right? And again if the goal is to have a Super
Bowl championship season, be the best Lamar Jackson ever.
You be there for every,
oh ta you've had plenty of time off. You have time off after
that. This is about getting your. If this is true that
the objective is
to be as good as you can. Be this season and set yourself up
for your payday after that, then logic would suggest that
he be there. But they're in a whole lot of logic that
operates here and
It occurred to me as we were talking about this Chris and
I know that even though he's not represented by a traditional
agent. There are people who are advising him. I don't know if
he's listening. I don't know what kind of advice he's
getting.
He's either ignoring good advice or he's getting bad
advice, frankly. And we've been, you know, people get mad.
I'll leave the man alone. It's like, look, I'm trying to help
the guy. We're trying to help the
guy, the guys, making a mistake, the guys
putting millions of dollars at risk, when he doesn't need to,
they're ready to pay him. I wonder if it's some level
He thinks that the way he's performed means that the team
shouldn't even try to negotiate with him,
that they should just drop
on the table in front of him.
Top of the market money. Hmm,
an offer that he would accept
an offer that he can't refuse. I shouldn't even have to
negotiate with you. We shouldn't have to sit down and
hash this out. You should just come to me with
DeShawn Watson's contract, 230 million fully guaranteed over
five years. Maybe even more than that, because I want
an MVP and he didn't write, but
I just can't help but wonder whether from his perspective,
there is logic. It's very simple. It's very basic. It's
very clean.
You want me to sign a long-term contract. Don't force me to get
my hands dirty with all this back and forth. Just just give
me, give me the contract. You're ultimately going to give
me any way. Put it on the table.
And let's go make me the highest paid player in league,
history, do it. And let's go
put it there. And when I realize that it is what it
needs to be. I'll accept it II. Don't admit.
It's hard for a team to do that because you,
if you put your bottom line out there,
you're going to get negotiated away. From it. And and if you
put it out there as a take her to leave it, bottom line that
sends a bad message to. So I just I just can't help. But
wonder whether that's the only thing that makes sense here
that he's upset that they haven't
just come to him
with
a non-negotiable without saying non-negotiable, but I know,
need to negotiate bottom line, big package,
making the highest-paid player
and and the fact that they haven't done that is what
hasn't miffed. I don't know.
I don't know, baby.
I mean, there's something going on. Something strange is going
on. Yeah, it's not in his interest to be doing this know
and they, you know, I mean, as you stated and they seem to be
willing to pay him,
you know, up to the top tier of the market.
It doesn't seem like
I don't know whether they're going to make them just
the hands-down. Highest-paid guy. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't
want to do that. I'm sorry, as much as I love. Lamar Jackson
the style of football, he plays and everything. There.
I wouldn't want to make Him, the highest-paid quarterback
and football. It would scare me a little bit. It would, you
know, again, some of the other guys that have been paid,
you know, whether you go Mahomes or Josh Allen or even
DeShaun Watson. The one thing I'll say about them is they've
shown
the ability in my opinion to go.
Wait, even then when we can't run or do that like we're still
going to be really awesome in the pocket. Be able to carve
you up that way. Lamar Jackson
it's good there but it's not to their level to where you go.
Well, when he loses.
Is a step or two.
We know Hills car people up in the pocket. Still no problem.
I think that's still debatable
and from that standpoint and then the style of play, and
the gear, we're at in the career. I wouldn't want to pay him just
a here. You go. 250 million guaranteed or something like
that. Absolutely not. I would, I would definitely tread
lightly there, but they got to find that sweet spot and they
seem to like from everything we hear from Baltimore. It seems
like they're willing to go,
you know, hey, here's a sweet spot for us, but we'll go ahead.
A little over to your side cuz we like you so much. I mean it
seems that way from the language they use, but like
we've said, it's weird and I don't know,
it's awkward for them. They would much rather. He be
represented by an agent and if he had one of the best
quarterback agents, and I've said this before, it's not all
that hard to put a list together
for five of the top quarterback agencies. They could work out
a deal fairly quickly. And yes, he would have to pay them
a small percentage of the total gross amount, but he would end
up with more
than he has. Now, definitely more than he would get on his
own, and
it would be money. Well spent, because he would be eliminating
the risk of some sort of an injury that would make him not
attractive to that degree
to the Ravens, or some other team. We talked about
Kaepernick earlier and his time with Greg, Roman
in San Francisco. And this is something we've discussed with
Jackson in the past.
Why aren't they unlocking
the passing ability with Jackson
that we saw with Kaepernick? You know, those two?
Green Bay games,
the end of 2012, the start of 2013, 2012 playoffs.
He runs roughshod
over the Packers
playoff record for a quarterback in rushing, 185
yards. I think it was something like that week. One of the next
season Packers 49ers, the Packers determined to keep him
from running
and he slices and dices, a 400-plus
passing yards
when you take away the Run. Well, for I feel like with
the Ravens, they try to take over right away the Run by Lamar
Jackson and it still works.
So he still keeps running
and I really would love to know when they get into the throes
of calling, the plays calling the game. Do they keep going
back to the place that they know work, even though they
would like to throw the ball. Does Lamar Jackson exercise
discretion to not throw and take off and run. There's
there's an answer somewhere blend. I think there's a double
play ending layout approach, but that either he's choosing
not to throw it or Greg. Roman is dialing up these plays where
he runs the ball because
like a kid playing Madden
or Own man, as the case may be, I got three plays that work and
I just keep using them over and over again. Well, I mean
there there is some of that I do. I think I like you kind of
hit on all and I think it can kind of be all of those things,
you know, one.
Hey Kaepernick, when he was doing that stuff. The league
was still getting used to it and like holy crap. How do we
defend all these things? I don't know what the hell to do.
It's ten years later.
There's been a few teams that have run this type of offense
where they understand maybe now how to defend it a little bit
better. So I would say that,
you know, we you and I Definitely of the conversation
of hey
and I wish Greg Roman in that passing office was a hair more
creative and I'm sure
maybe but I don't like sit there and just go. Oh man. The
offense is, it's really limited. It's still good
enough, but I think maybe there's some of the aspect
you're talking about from Lamar's
aspect to hey, we don't need to make it overly complicated.
We're going to run the ball. We got this group of passing
plays. And if this passing play doesn't work. Well, we got a
guy that can kind of get out of the pocket and make things
happen that way. But But
at some point, you know, and I think that's what we saw little
last year is
wait, maybe not going to make all the magic all the time. And
we need to have a little bit more in the passing offense and
be better at executing that. And hey, whether it's Greg
Roman needs to expand a little bit and Lamar needs to give
them the confidence to expand
to a degree because they're certainly
games down the stretch, before he got hurt, where,
you know, he wasn't seeing the field that well he was missing
receivers. Making bad decisions and I'll but so there's growth
there for sure. But I think you're kind of. Right. There's
a few things that are at play
there to why it is what it is in Baltimore.
In Arizona, there's another issue as it relates to
the quarterback. And this one isn't about failure to engage by
the player. This is failure to act by the team
calamari and his agent. Made it known early in the offseason.
They were ready to have a new contract. The team wasn't
ready. The team apparently
is getting closer. The bottom line is,
how do you find a middle ground between the Cardinals
and Kyla? Marie?
Where is that? Sweet spot? Can they?
Find a compromise. When you consider
how broad that market is at the top, 30 million dollars,
spreading number one, and number 10 on the highest-paid.