ExtremeRavens Posted Thursday at 06:38 PM Posted Thursday at 06:38 PM Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta, in his words, has “a lot of different balls in the air right now.” Even with the start of the NFL draft less than a week away, no two are perhaps bigger than the contracts of quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry. Though Jackson is under contract through the 2027 season after signing a $260 million extension in 2023 and Henry still has one year left on the two-year deal he signed as a free agent last offseason, figuring out what to do with each are among Baltimore’s biggest priorities. How will the Ravens address each remains to be seen, but the coming weeks and months will be telling. Let’s start with Henry, because if the Ravens are going to extend the 31-year-old beyond the 2025 season, that’s a deal that would likely get done first if for no other reason than the timeframe and simplicity of such a move. Currently, the five-time Pro Bowl selection is set to make $6 million this year (not including up to another $3 million in bonuses). He’s also slated to count $12.895 million against the salary cap, a not completely insignificant number for a team that needs all the cap space it can get with just a handful of teams around the league having less than Baltimore’s $7.768 million in effective space, according to Over The Cap. Still, it’s a bargain when considering Henry was second in the league in rushing (1,921 yards) and averaged a career-high 5.9 yards per carry. Whether it stays that way could be a different story, though, with the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley — who beat out Henry for the rushing title and helped Philadelphia to the Super Bowl title — signing a two-year extension for a whopping $41.2 million that reportedly includes a guaranteed $36 million with $15 million in incentives. That made Barkley, 28, the highest-paid back annually by $1.6 million over the San Francisco 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey. By comparison, Henry is the 12th-highest paid back in terms of average annual value. “We saw the Eagles take care of Barkley — I know he won a Super Bowl — but Derrick Henry was great again,” said ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, who spoke with The Baltimore Sun last week on behalf of Sanofi and its screening for Type 1 diabetes, which both his wife Sharri and Ravens tight end Mark Andrews have both been diagnosed with. “If there’s a way to make him happier that doesn’t really compromise your cap all that much then why would you not do that? “I’m sure they will look to do something for Derrick Henry.” Or, they could choose to simply let Henry play out his contract. Though Henry has said he would like to retire as a Raven, if he signed with another team in free agency next offseason, Baltimore would all but certainly get a compensatory draft pick in return. Ravens running back Derrick Henry, shown practicing last season, made a major impact in 2024. The franchise could choose to extend him beyond the 2025 season. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Jackson’s situation, of course, is more complex for myriad reasons. The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player who finished runner-up to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen still has three more years on his deal. But his salary cap number skyrockets to a prohibitive $74.65 million beginning in 2026. The organization has had internal discussions about an extension, but where they are on those talks with Jackson is unknown, with both DeCosta and the quarterback preferring to keep those matters private. Currently, Jackson is the sixth-highest-paid quarterback in the NFL in terms of total value and ninth-highest in terms of average annual value ($52 million), just behind the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert. With a huge salary cap number looming, re-doing Jackson’s deal then is a matter of simply when, not if. “That’s a no-brainer,” Schefter said. “When you have a franchise quarterback, it’s like having a bank you can always borrow against. We see it all the time with all these other great quarterbacks.” To that point, Allen signed a six-year, $330 million extension with the Bills last month that made him the second-highest paid quarterback behind only the Kansas City Chiefs’ two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. At an average annual value of $55 million, only the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott makes more. At last month’s owners meeting, Ravens coach John Harbaugh didn’t equivocate when asked if it’s hard to put a value on Jackson. “The value is the top,” he said. “When Lamar gets paid, he’s going to be the highest-paid player in football, just like he was last time. I think every contract he signs, probably until he decides to hang up his cleats, he’s going to be that guy.” What could that timeframe look like? “I’m sure at some point before the start of the season — no rush — the Ravens will probably address Lamar’s contract situation,” Schefter said. “If you can get his contract redone, make him happier and it’s not putting the organization at financial risk, which it wouldn’t, then you get that done, and that’s what I expect that they’ll do.” For now, though, DeCosta remains mum. “I’m not going to talk about what we’re doing, what we’re not doing behind the scenes business-wise with these guys,” he said. “I don’t think it’s good for me to do that, but I would say that aside from the draft, as you all know, we’re looking at guys that are still available, free agents on the street. We’re looking at re-signing our own guys. We’re blessed to have a bunch of really good players, and we’re going to try and keep as many of those guys as we can.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
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