Five years after he fell to the end of the first round, draft day was a huge payday for Lamar Jackson.
The Baltimore Ravens agreed in principle with Jackson on a five-year deal Thursday, making their star quarterback the highest-paid player in NFL history.
The Ravens and Jackson agreed on a $260 million, five-year deal with $185 million in guaranteed money, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract hadn't been signed.
The deal keeps the 2019 NFL MVP in Baltimore for the foreseeable future and ends a contract negotiation saga that was dominating the team's offseason.
“Sometimes you just need time. These things develop,” general manager Eric DeCosta said. “Sometimes these things can happen in two weeks, and sometimes it takes two years.”
Jackson's contract tops the $255 million, five-year deal the Philadelphia Eagles gave Jalen Hurts earlier this month. Hurts got $179.3 million in guarantees.
DeCosta said the Ravens gave Jackson five or six different proposals over the past couple of years.
“You just try to make progress every single time and find that sweet spot,” DeCosta said. “Of course you look at every single deal that gets done, quarterback deals. That's how you kind of build out the parameters of what you think is fair.”
Deshaun Watson still has the biggest guaranteed contract in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns gave Watson a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million extension last year to waive his no-trade clause and agree to join the team.
The Ravens announced the deal hours before the first round of the NFL draft. Then they took Boston College receiver Zay Flowers with the No. 22 pick, giving Jackson another playmaker with a lot of potential.
After playing out his rookie contract, Jackson's future with the Ravens was in doubt. Baltimore put the franchise tag on Jackson last month, but the Ravens kept expressing confidence that they could keep him — even after Jackson made a trade request public.
The team's tweet announcing the deal included a video of Jackson talking.
“For the last few months, there's been a lot of he said, she said, a lot of nail biting, a lot of head scratching going on,” Jackson said. “But for the next five years, it's a lot of flock going on.”
That was a reference to the term “Ravens Flock” used by the team's fans.
“Let's go baby. Let's go, let's go," Jackson added. “Can't wait to get there, can't wait to be there. Can't wait to light up M&T (Bank Stadium) for the next five years, man. Let's get it.”
It’s an interesting coincidence Jackson’s new contract was announced on draft day. Five years ago, he wasn’t one of the top players taken.
Baltimore landed him with the 32nd pick, and he was the fifth quarterback chosen. Of the four who went ahead of him, only Buffalo’s Josh Allen has enjoyed success comparable to Jackson. Allen signed a long-term deal with the Bills two offseasons ago.
Jackson's deal brought one of the NFL's biggest offseason stories to a conclusion — right as one of the league's biggest annual events was about to start. The Ravens can now expect Jackson in the lineup for the first game of the season, without drama about whether he'll report to camp. They've already boosted his wide receiving group by signing Odell Beckham Jr. Baltimore also has a new offensive coordinator after hiring Georgia's Todd Monken.
“Todd Monken had a good day today. He's pretty happy,” coach John Harbaugh said. “He seemed pretty happy. He better be happy.”
Jackson is already one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 rushing. He's been hurt at the end of the past two seasons, however. At age 26, his best days could well be ahead of him, and now he'll remain in a Baltimore uniform.
Jackson, who was negotiating without an agent, stood to make $32.4 million this season if he played on the franchise tag, but that path had potential pitfalls for both sides. Jackson would have risked losing a lot of money long term if he was injured, and even if he stayed healthy, the team might have had an unhappy quarterback on its hands. Jackson's contract situation didn't seem too disruptive last offseason, but it took a different turn when he announced in late March that he'd requested a trade a few weeks earlier.
Whether that was out of frustration with the process or an attempt to draw more interest from other teams, Jackson and the Ravens now appear to be very much on the same page.
DeCosta, a Boston Celtics fan, said he watched them squander a big lead the other night in their playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks.
“These guys are really choking, and just as Trae Young hit that bomb, I got a text from Lamar that said, basically, ‘I think we can get a deal done. We’re getting close,'” DeCosta said. “I said back to him, ‘Lamar, you just saved my night.’”
___
AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.
These are the headlines you Need2Know.
* **Damage Control at the White House:** President Trump will meet with his cabinet today after widespread criticism of his comments spread following Monday's joint meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. To appease his base,Trump declared yesterday that he simply misspoke during the presser--but some critics find that hard to believe.
* **Manafort Goes to Court:** The case against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is moving forward--despite a denial of his team's request for a change of location. Manafort's team asked for the trial to be moved from Alexandria to Roanoke, believing that Alexandria's more liberal base would be less forgiving and attract more press.
* **University Doctor Under Fire:** A former Ohio State University doctor is accused of molesting student athletes after complaints surfaced from several ex-wrestlers--one of whom condemned is Congressman Jim Jordan for ignoring the allegations.
* **Vacancies at Comic-Con:** The 2018 Comic-Con kicks of in San Diego tonight. But some of the usual attendees will be missing: network HBO, the Avengers, X-Men and Deadpool will be among the absent guests.
* **American League Still Number One:** The American league clung to its title as reigning champ after it defeated the National League for the sixth straight year during last night's MLB All-Star game.
Cheddar Big News' Hena Doba gives us the details.
The golf superstar signed with TaylorMade back in 2017 but was out of the game that year due to a back surgery and a reckless driving incident. Since then, things have turned around for Woods. He's preparing to play in the British Open in just a few days and his "ball striking is terrific, his putting is great, and I think he’s in a great position right now to challenge,” says TaylorMade CEO David Abeles.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
Trump Faces Bipartisan Backlash
Russian Woman Charged With Election Meddling
Hawaii's 'Lava Bomb' Injures Tourists
Deadly Fire Near Yosemite National Park Doubles
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
*President Trump meets with Russian President Putin in Helsinki, Finland, days after the indictment of 12 Russian operatives for trying to disrupt the 2016 election.
*A federal judge blasts the HHS giving them one more week to reunite 2,000 families at the border after the administration missed the initial deadline.
*Protests erupted in Chicago over the weekend after a popular barber was shot and killed by the police.
*Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber won Wimbledon titles over the weekend. And France took home the World Cup.
Cheddar's Hope King gives us the details.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
*President Trump is in England preparing for a joint news conference with Theresa May. While the duo dined last night, The Sun newspaper published a sit-down interview with the president where he criticized May’s handling of Brexit. Trump warned trade deals with England could be nixed if Brexit isn’t handled properly.
*FBI agent Peter Strzok was removed from working on the Hillary Clinton email probe and the Trump-Russia investigation after text messages were discovered in which he criticized the president.
*Stormy Daniels made an encore appearance at the same strip club she was arrested at the night prior.
*A Kansas City water park will not reopen after a 10-year-old boy died on a water slide.
*Serena Williams beat Julia Görges of Germany yesterday to reach her 10th Wimbledon final.
Cheddar Big News's Jill Wagner gives us the details.
The Olympic gold medalist hosts “Wedding Cake Championship,” a new show on Food Network, with longtime friend and fellow figure skater Johnny Weir. While the new gig is worlds different from their athletic careers, there are still some similarities. “The competition part of it was fun,” Lipinski tells Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
* Confusion at the NATO summit after President Trump said allies will add billions of dollars to defense spending. But French president Emmanuel Macron rebuffed those claims.
* Stormy Daniels was arrested after an alleged misdemeanor at a Columbus, Ohio, strip club. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has also been working to reunite families at the southern border.
* The U.S. Senate voted yesterday on a non-binding resolution giving it a say on what tariffs are levied and against whom.
* New evidence prompted the Department of Justice reopened the case of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was killed in 1955 in Money, Miss.
* John Schnatter, founder and former CEO of Papa John’s, has resigned his chairman role after a racially-charged comment on a conference call.
* Americans made it to both the men’s and women’s Wimbledon semifinals, the first time since 2009.
Cheddar Big News' Jill Wagner tells us the latest.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
The NATO Summit got off to a heated start as President Trump already criticized member countries for not paying their fair share of defense spending.
The Trump administration also missed its promised deadline to reunite dozens of migrant families.
A natural gas leak in Sun Prairie, Wisc., turned deadly when an explosion erupted for several hours.
Brett Kavanaugh, the president's pick for the open Supreme Court seat, met on Capitol Hill with the vice president and senators yesterday.
The NFL Players Association is challenging the anti-kneeling policy, which requires players to remain in the locker room if they choose to protest the national anthem.
Hurricane Chris makes its way up the East Coast, but shouldn't make a major impact on land.
Cheddar Big News' Jill Wagner gives us the details.
France kicked Belgium out of the championship tournament on Tuesday. Some of the team's success so far can be attributed to its coach, Didier Deschamps, who captained the 1998 title-winning team and can convey that experience to his players, says Jeffrey Marcus, publisher of The Banter.
After Croatia's long-fought match against Russia on Saturday, the team may not have the stamina to beat England this week. "Croatia's had to play two very long 120-minute games followed by penalty shootouts," says Mike Murphy, deputy editor at Quartz. "That'll work in England's favor."
