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Lamar Jackson, Ravens end standoff with deal making QB NFL's highest-paid player
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- Lamar Jackson, Ravens end standoff with deal making QB NFL's highest-paid player
Lamar Jackson will be a Raven plenty more.
The Baltimore quarterback has agreed to a five-year extension worth $260 million, a person with knowledge of the deal told USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss financial terms of the agreement.
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Per reports, Jackson is guaranteed $185 million.
The deal makes Jackson the NFL's highest-paid player based on average annual value. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts briefly held the title after agreeing to a five-year, $255 million deal last week.
"You know, for the last few months, there's been a lot of 'he say, she say.' A lot of nail-biting, a lot of head-scratching going on. But for the next five years, it's a lot of flock going on! Let's go, baby. Let's go, man," Jackson said in a video shared on the Ravens' Twitter account.
"Can't wait to get there, can't wait to be there, can't wait to light up M&T for the next five years, man. Let's get it."
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Jackson, who serves as his own agent, and the team had been at loggerheads over a contract for some time as he purportedly sought a fully guaranteed deal that superseded the five-year, $230 million contract Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson received last year.
Jackson received a non-exclusive $32 million franchise tag this offseason, which was designed to tie him to the team until a longer deal got done – assuming another club didn't pry him loose with an offer the Ravens were unwilling to match. Jackson is not believed to have received an outside offer sheet.
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The Ravens are scheduled to select 22nd overall Thursday in the first round of the 2023 draft . There had been speculation, partially fueled by GM Eric DeCosta himself, that the team might select a replacement for Jackson. Obviously, that will no longer be under consideration for a club that's qualified for the playoffs four times in Jackson's five NFL seasons.
The final first-rounder selected in 2018, Jackson was a unanimous league MVP the following season, when he threw a career-high 36 TD passes. His 1,206 rushing yards in 2019 are a record among quarterbacks and he's the only one who's ever topped the 1000-yard plateau twice.
The biggest knock on Jackson, aside from the injuries that have cut his past two seasons short, has been his postseason performance. The Ravens are 1-3 in the playoffs with him as the starter, his QB rating an abysmal 68.3. The top-seeded team in 2019, they were shockingly ousted at home by the wild card Tennessee Titans .
But there's no doubting the fear he puts into defenses as one of the best regular-season quarterbacks in history, winning 45 of 61 starts to date. However there will be a new learning curve in 2023 as he adapts to new offensive coordinator Todd Monken while learning to integrate newly signed wideout Odell Beckham Jr. into the new-look attack.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lamar Jackson contract: Ravens QB is NFL's new highest-paid player
