DeCosta mentioned the Ravens have “4, 5 or 6 totally different plans primarily based on what occurs over the subsequent 10 days.” Teams can formally start chatting with free brokers on March 13.
The first domino will fall by Tuesday’s deadline to use the franchise tag. DeCosta mentioned the Ravens haven’t determined but on which they might use – unique or non-exclusive – but when they haven’t reached a long-term settlement by then, the Ravens will apply one. That will, a minimum of, give the Ravens a working data of how a lot salary-cap area they might have if Jackson performs below the tag.
However, negotiations towards a long-term deal can proceed even after the franchise tag is utilized. That deadline for signing a tagged participant to an extension is not till mid-July.
So whereas DeCosta mentioned Wednesday that he and Jackson “each perceive the urgency of the state of affairs,” it is much less of an impending arduous deadline a lot as a smooth deadline so DeCosta and the Ravens can function the remainder of their offseason enterprise. Free company opens on March 15, lower than two weeks, and the Ravens do not understand how a lot cash they’re bringing to the desk.
“I do not understand how you actually conduct enterprise in case you are Baltimore proper now till you get a solution form of someway whether or not or not you are going to have the ability to come shut on a deal,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah mentioned final week.
Without figuring out what Jackson will value, the Ravens do not know what number of of their very own pending free brokers, corresponding to cornerback Marcus Peters, they will deliver again. They do not know what number of veterans they could must launch to create salary-cap area. They do not understand how a lot cash they must spend to enhance different areas of weak spot, such because the vast receiver corps.
Planning for a workforce with Jackson on a long-term contract would give the Ravens essentially the most flexibility in 2023 and skill to plan for years past. Having Jackson on the non-exclusive tender (about $32.4 million) would imply some trimming in accordance with what number of additions they need to make. Carrying him on the unique tender (about $45 million) would imply deep cuts and restructures this offseason simply to get below the cap.
“There’s no greater query, no greater choice, no greater problem for this group shifting ahead than this contract,” DeCosta mentioned. “Most of my effort is concentrated on this. The remainder of it’s centered on the draft and free company. But it is arduous to actually have a transparent imaginative and prescient of what the longer term goes to seem like till we will get this contract performed.”
Whether the 2 sides have come any nearer to a deal than they have been when talks have been tabled initially of the 2022 season is unclear. They’re nonetheless in communication and DeCosta mentioned “we have had good conferences not too long ago.” In the tip, they will possible have to satisfy someplace within the center to recover from the end line, and it stays to be seen whether or not that may occur.
