NFL Insider Jason La Canfora: Baker Mayfield Deal Shows What Ravens Must Pay Lamar Jackson

While Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson bring vastly different skill sets to the field, their financial trajectories are inextricably linked by the NFL’s exploding quarterback market.

Jackson has two Most Valuable Player awards—and somehow missed out on the honor in his best individual season—and remains a generational talent capable of taking over games with his arm or his legs.

Mayfield is a winning quarterback who lacks those elite athletic traits. While he has built a respected NFL career, his resume does not match Jackson’s.

Yet the contract extension Mayfield signed on the cusp of the regular season serves as a stark reminder to the Baltimore Ravens of what it will take to extend their star signal-caller.

Mayfield’s three-year deal is worth $165 million, according to league sources, paying him $55 million annually into his 30s. Jackson, who represents himself and holds a firm grasp on his market value, will undoubtedly take note.

Could Lamar Jackson Become the NFL’s First $70M Quarterback?

When Dak Prescott became the league’s first $60 million man despite returning from a major injury, it raised the question of whether the Ravens can salvage contract talks by offering Jackson a three-year, $210 million fully guaranteed deal before it is too late.

“I think $70M is the number for Lamar,” longtime NFL agent Mike McCartney told me recently.

McCartney, who negotiated Kirk Cousins’ landmark fully guaranteed contract with Minnesota and has analyzed Jackson’s market, said he would push for a three-year structure similar to Mayfield’s deal and Cousins’ original Vikings agreement.

McCartney believes time is running out for Baltimore due to Jackson’s contract structure. Jackson carries an untenable $85 million cap hit in 2027 alongside no-trade and no-franchise-tag clauses.

“The way I look at it, if I’m Lamar, I’m 17 games away from finding out what I’m worth on the open market,” McCartney said, noting that Jackson’s cap structure gives Baltimore virtually no leverage to renegotiate without his consent.

This remains the premier contract saga in the NFL, with Baltimore’s reluctance to proactively address the deal leaving rival executives and agents baffled.

While the Ravens have historically rejected short-term, fully guaranteed deals, offering one now may be their only option before Week 1. At the start of the week, Mayfield and Tampa Bay were locked in a contract impasse that appeared destined to drag into the regular season.

Then Tampa Bay adjusted its offer. While Mayfield’s figures will not satisfy Jackson, the contract structure just might.