The Baltimore Ravens have begun the second phase of this offseason’s organized team activities (OTAs) this week.
Although these are still voluntary meetings and practices, a few noteworthy names are absent from the facilities.
According to The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec, that list includes starters Lamar Jackson, Kyle Hamilton, Rashod Bateman and Kyle Van Noy among others.
Most of these players, of course, are veteran returners to the team and may not benefit a whole lot from these preliminary meetings like younger players would.
However nice it would be for them to attend practice and get re-acclimated with the program, these workouts and meeting sessions are still voluntary.
For Jackson, it’s worth remembering that he is in line for a contract extension that has a strong likelihood to be the richest in NFL history.
The current highest-paid player in the NFL is Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, who signed a four-year, $240 million deal back in September of this past year. CBS Sports’ Joel Corry thinks Jackson could eclipse that annual $60 million mark … whenever that may come.
“Jackson should also make it clear to the Ravens that by waiting until next year to do a deal, the growth in the salary cap from 2025 to 2026 will need to be taken into account,” Corry wrote. “For example, if the 2026 salary cap is set at $302.5 million, then the deal would have to be at $70 million per year because that would reflect the 34.56% salary cap inflation from 2023.”
$70 mil per year is an astronomical number, but there isn’t a player in the NFL with as comfortable job security as the multi-time MVP winner. Without Lamar, the Ravens would not get close to sniffing a Super Bowl … so the organization recognizes the value he brings and is expected to give him his due.
This absence from OTAs likely isn’t related to his contract situation, however, as Jackson is technically under contract until after 2027.
He, along with the rest of his veteran teammates, are expected to report to mandatory minicamps that begin on June 17.
In the meantime, head coach John Harbaugh has liked what he’s seen from those taking part in OTAs.
“We all know what we’re here for, and we have a mission that we’re trying to accomplish,” Harbaugh said earlier this offseason. “To see the guys out there working as hard as they are and as hard as they have been means a lot. I love the way these guys work.”
