UPDATE, via Brett: As the season kicks off, Chris Mortensen has the scoop on what Jackson rejected, which is pr꧅obably two parts understandable and one part, dude you are taking a lot of risk:
The risk here is that Jackson, who was disappointing last year, dramatically underperforms this season or suffers a serious injury (or next year, actually). If that happens, his plan, in the absence of an extension, to secure a couple franchise tags is going to fall apart. So while he might be thinking he already has $100+ million guaranteed in his back pocket, that’s not necessarily, true. And then he’s gotta be great and healthy for a third season in order to actually get a monster deal in free agency at age 28.
Maybe I’m just a scaredy cat, but I’d be pretty nervous about leaving this deal on the table and then betting on playing great and healthy for another THREE seasons before I can lock in a payday.
To be sure, it’s always possible that an extension comes together sooner, or a trade with an accompanying extension. So Jackson doesn’t HAVE TO ball out for three years from here to make nine figures. It’s just that his backstop plan – the reason he rejected this offer – could go away on any given snap.
*original post follows*
Roquan Smith has company.
Smith, the ultra-talented Bears linebacker who will begin the final year of his rookie deal without reaching an extension, won’t be the only one doing so as the NFL season kicks off. Moreover, Smith isn’t even the most high-profile player set to play on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, a two-time Pro Bowler, 2019 MVP, and the league’s 36th best player as voted by his peers coming into this season, is joining the party, too:
Like Smith, Lamar Jackson doesn’t have an agent. So go figure that in an offseason in which so much money was thrown around on new contracts throughout the league, two high-profile players who *DIDN’T* get the deals they were seeking didn’t have an agent helping them through the process. Feels like a missed opportunity.
That isn’t to say Jackson and Smith are wrong for taking this path. Extensions can get done with players representing themselves. And I understand reasons why players would want to take on that burden of working out their own deals. It’s not just about getting a bigger piece of the financial pie. But it also gives those players a better understanding of the business of football. However, I’m not totally convinced the juice is worth the squeeze. Jackson and Smith are risking losing out on a chunk of change by rolling the dice this way. For their sake, I hope it doesn’t come up snake eyes.
