After Not Attending Sunday Night's Playoff Game Against The Bengals, I Think It's Fair To Wonder If Lamar Jackson's Time With The Ravens Is Over

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Questions abound about superstar QB Lamar Jackson's future with the Ravens following the 24-17 playoff loss in Cincy on Sunday night. The 2019 NFL MVP missed his 6th straight game to end the season with a Grade 2 PCL strain. He came out on Thursday with a long message on Twitter about it. 

Then Lamar pulled a stunning move by not EVEN COMING TO THE PLAYOFF GAME to support his teammates. Truly a bizarre move by a team captain. I still cannot believe it to be honest. It definitely was an ugly look to put it mildly.

With Lamar set to become a free agent, it is understandable why he did not want to risk further injury even in a playoff game with an unstable knee and Robert Griffin defended Lamar on Twitter saying that basically he cost himself his career in the 2012 playoffs when he tried to play through a knee injury.

It is no secret that there has been no love lost between Jackson and the Ravens in contract negotiations. Lamar wants the money that DeShaun Watson, Russell Wilson & Kyler Murray got last offseason. The Ravens have balked at making that kind of long term commitment.

Lamar is only 25 and in the heart of his prime. But he has also not been able to get through the last 2 seasons with knee injuries. He relies on his athleticism and the Ravens could be concerned about his durability long term in the super physical AFC North.

So what do the Ravens do?

They can franchise tag Lamar for a whopping $45 million next season and he will have a $54 million dollar cap hit. On the surface, this is the obvious choice. This is a huge financial commitment for one year but it does not lock the Ravens into anything past 2023. 

But will Lamar play on the franchise tag? Or will he demand a trade? They also could sign him to a long term extension but that seems very unlikely at this point.

Jackson has a good bit of leverage as there is no more important position in sports than being a franchise quarterback in the NFL. One would think there are a host of suitors including the Jets, Panthers, Falcons, Colts & Saints just to name a few. But then who would play QB for the Ravens?

My prediction is the Ravens will use the franchise tag on Lamar for the 2023 season. But I have NO IDEA how he will react to it. There is definitely some issues in their relationship and he could easily balk at playing on the tag. 

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Will Lamar demand a trade? Only time will tell but it certainly seems like the relationship is fractured in Baltimore. Has the ship fully sailed? Only time will tell. But we are already in the Cryptic Instagram Messages phase of negotiations, which can get sticky for both sides.