NFL teams appear to be blatantly lying about Lamar Jackson interest

Lamar Jackson was the MVP of the NFL in the 2019 season, and now apparently nobody wants him. His 2019 MVP campaign was one of the most bizarre seasons you will ever see from a quarterback in league history as Jackson defied the odds by running for over 1,000 yards at the QB position and also leading the NFL with 36 touchdown passes. He led the league in TD passes that year despite the Ravens ranking 32nd in the league in pass attempts.

Over the last handful of years, Jackson’s numbers have reasonably declined, coming back to non-video game-like levels in 2020 (but still great) and then really taking a nosedive in 2021 when Jackson was dealing with an injury. In the 2022 season, Jackson’s numbers and overall level of play were rising back up to near the level we had previously seen when he went down with an injury against the Denver Broncos in Week 13, not to be seen the rest of the season.

Jackson, from an outside perspective, seemingly shut himself down for the year at that point. He was initially diagnosed with a 1-3 week recovery time, but he didn’t return to the field at all even with the Ravens making the playoffs. His contract and future in Baltimore have been heavily in question in recent weeks, and understandably so. The Ravens don’t seem to have Jackson in their long-term plans, slapping him with the non-exclusive franchise tag which means Jackson will be free next week to negotiate with other NFL clubs.

Adam Schefter of ESPN said that the Ravens and Jackson — who is self-represented — have been negotiating a deal for the last two years and haven’t been able to come to an agreement. One good point that Schefter made is that it’s possible teams feel like they would be drawing up offer sheets on behalf of the Baltimore Ravens, who can match any deal Jackson gets or take two first-round picks instead. This leads us to this bizarre bit of news…

It might make sense for the Dolphins to be on a list like this, but the Falcons? Panthers? Commanders? Raiders? None of that makes sense. Lamar Jackson would be the dream offseason acquisition for any one of those four teams. Is it going to cost a lot of money and valuable NFL Draft real estate? Yes, but sometimes that’s the price you pay for a quarterback in this league.

There has been some thought given to the idea that these teams are coming out publicly that they’re not going to pursue Lamar Jackson because they don’t want other QBs to be upset at the idea that the front office put a full-court press on Jackson:

This theory or idea is not without merit. The Atlanta Falcons found themselves in hot water with Matt Ryan last offseason because of their pursuit of Deshaun Watson. But that situation was very different and also makes the lack of teams in on Lamar Jackson even more confusing. There are NFL teams that could sign Jackson to an offer sheet that Jackson would love and that the Ravens simply couldn’t match.

There are situations around the NFL where the pursuit of Jackson more than makes sense, it’s bordering on malpractice and negligence to not go after him. How could NFL GMs justify not going after the 2019 MVP who is not even 30 years old at the QB position when they’ve got a shot?

I don’t know if you should be worried about Sam Howell’s or Desmond Ridder’s feelings, with all due respect to those guys. The Panthers and Raiders don’t even have QBs to speak of right now.

The New York Jets don’t seem to be overly shy right now about their pursuit of Zach Wilson. I suppose they are beyond the point of caring how offended Zach Wilson is, because players are publicly campaigning for Rodgers to follow Brett Favre’s footsteps and go from the Packers to the Jets in the twilight of his NFL career.

The Saints didn’t seem too worried about Jameis Winston when they went after — and landed — Derek Carr. The Panthers allegedly met with Carr at the Combine as well. Is that simply them not wanting to pay the premium for Lamar, despite the fact that he would make Carolina an instant contender in the NFC right now?

These reports are mind-boggling, and to me, I can come to no other conclusion than NFL teams are lying through their scummy teeth. This is the season of lies in the NFL, after all. Misinformation, misdirection, and all of a sudden, some team is going to come out of nowhere and make this deal. Doesn’t trading for Lamar Jackson seem super on-brand for Panthers GM Scott Fitterer?

It is on brand for him.

Terry Fontenot and Arthur Smith spent all last season concocting an offense that would be perfect for Lamar Jackson to slide into. I guess maybe they are hellbent on possibly getting Tyree Wilson or something at pick no. 8 overall and rolling with Desmond Ridder again this year.

What’s the Raiders’ excuse? Actually, if I were Lamar Jackson, I’d probably be avoiding Josh McDaniels, but that’s another story entirely.

It will be such a terrible look for the NFL if there is not a huge line of teams trying to acquire Lamar Jackson, bidding for his services and trying to outbid the others. Considering there were a handful of teams that entered a bidding war last offseason for Deshaun Watson, amidst heinous allegations and after a year away from the game completely, with multiple knee reconstructive surgeries in his history…how could NFL teams possibly let an opportunity to land Lamar Jackson get away?