'Eyebrows Raised' As Lamar Jackson & His Mother Reportedly Negotiating Contract Extension Without Agent
(WJZ)- Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has made it clear that he wants to remain in Baltimore and has been negotiating with the team on a contract extension to kick in after his rookie deal. However, unlike the rest of the league's starting quarterbacks who are, or have been in his position, Jackson is negotiating his deal without an agent. His mother, Felicia Jones, who helped negotiate Jackson's rookie deal, is helping with negotiations again.
NFL.com reporter Ian Rapoport went on Pat McAfee's show Thursday and discussed the negotiations noting specifically how delicate the balance is for both sides.
"Agents, a lot of times, sort of act as a buffer for teams to players," Rapoport said. "It is a little different with Lamar Jackson because it's his mom sort of acting as his business partner, business manager."
Jones and Jackson worked with the Ravens in 2018 to get his four-year $9.5 million rookie contract done and Rapoport gave credit to the pair for getting that deal done. But, he also said that the move to negotiate without an agent has drawn some "raised eyebrows" from around the league.
"Lamar is seeing the same sort of eyebrows raised from the agent community and from players as well because his mother is doing it," Rapoport said. "It is a lot of pressure, it is unbelievably difficult. The stakes are incredibly high because if you lock yourself into a bad deal you could be costing yourself tens of millions of dollars. And we'll see which way it goes. It is going to be big and the Ravens do very good deals often for the Ravens so this is the one that is probably most fascinating of all the deals for me."
The most recent benchmark we have for quarterback contract extensions is Dak Prescott with the Dallas Cowboys who signed a $160 million extension in March that will see him earn about $40 million per year.
