By Noah Hickman
In today's NFL, it is pretty much a golden rule that teams have great quarterback play if they want to win a super bowl.
That begs the question: why are some general managers willing to overpay for quarterbacks who have not proven that they are worth that money and why are others hesitant to pay quarterbacks who have been a positive for their team?
Every team is in a different position, with different leadership and cap space, which makes it principal to know when you have something good -- which brings me to Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
A couple of years ago, the Ravens exercised Jackson's fifth-year option on his rookie deal which was $23 million in guaranteed money throughout the 2022 season.
At the time, Jackson had already won an NFL MVP award and became the second player in NFL history to win unanimous MVP.
He had led his team to the playoffs for a third consecutive season and had just had his second straight 1,000-yard rushing season.
In hindsight, the Ravens exercising the fifth-year option was the beginning of the domino effect disaster.
The Ravens hesitated to pay their franchise quarterback the money he wanted and now will seemingly pay the price for it.
There was speculation that Jackson wanted a long-term contract that averaged out to $46 million annually.
The kicker is that there were recent reports that stated that he wanted a similar deal to Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, who last year, signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.
It is hard to measure the value of a quarterback in today's market, but I know for a fact that Jackson is more valuable than somebody who has 26 sexual misconduct allegations.
Instead of getting a lucrative deal like Watson, Jackson was recently placed on a non-exclusive franchise tag by the Ravens which is worth just a little over $32 million.
An exclusive franchise tag would have been $45 million, so it goes without saying that Jackson is not getting his due.
For context here are the 2023 salaries for the top 15 paid NFL quarterbacks:
Jackson comes in as the 13th highest paid quarterback for 2023 and one of two quarterbacks on a one-year deal (the other being Kirk Cousins).
One thing to take away is this list does not tell who the best quarterback in todays NFL and it is all-the-more apparent when you realize its wackiness.
If that were the case, Patrick Mahomes would be #1 and Joe Burrow would be near the top of this list as opposed to not on it; but everybody in the sports world knows his payday will come as he is closer to getting out of his rookie contract and negotiating a long-term one.
Getting paid the biggest bucks does not always equate to being the best and that's what can make negotiations so tough, and I think Jackson is higher than the the 13th best quarterback.
To me, he is at least a top 10 quarterback in my book and I would take him over about 75% of the quarterbacks who are going to be getting paid more than him in the 2023 season.
Not only that, but ever since 2019 Pro Football Focus reports that the Ravens have the worst group of receivers.
Despite that, in the 2022-23 season, Lamar Jackson ranked ninth out of 31 qualifying quarterbacks in QBR; ahead of the top four paid qbs: Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, and Deshaun Watson who were 26th, 27th, 19th, and the other is not on the list, respectively.
All the quarterbacks I mentioned above have past accomplishments and accolades that stem from good to hall of fame worthy.
And with all due respect there is no doubt in my mind that Jackson deserves to be getting paid more than at least three of those quarterbacks (Rodgers is a very iffy situation) based on how valuable he is to his team at the moment.
Give him weapons at WR and I promise, we haven't seen the best of him yet.
Just look at what happened to my quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts when they got a true number one threat.
They took the NFL by storm and showed every true NFL fan what they can do when surrounded with talent.
Look at the leap Josh Allen took when the Buffalo Bills got Stefon Diggs in free agency.
The point is, pay your quarterback, go all in for him and don't hesitate; that is your now and future.
Jackson is succeeding despite not being put in the best position and not having enough playmakers on offense.
The Ravens have only missed the playoffs once during his tenure and that was when he missed five games and the team went 1-4 without him.
If there is one concern, it would be his ability to be available each and every week as he has missed five games in back-to-back seasons.
In those games, the Ravens are 3-7 without him and 15-9 with him, and trust me, I don't think a lot of quarterbacks would have put up an individual winning record with Hollywood Brown, Rashod Bateman, then Demarcus Robinson as their no. 1 receivers.
The key to making Jackson stay healthy is keeping the weight off his shoulders and not letting him think he has to do everything, especially with his legs.
With the right supporting cast and offensive coordinator, who knows how high the ceiling of Lamar Jackson can be.
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