Lamar Jackson is the best QB in the NFL & Fantasy

[Anteaters]

This is so silly. Lamar didn't get his guaranteed contract. That is what teams didn't want to give him. Nobody said they didn't want the player. They didn't want to have to give compensation and then have to give guaranteed money. Stop pretending teams said, "Nah, Lamar isn't good, we don't want him." That is not what happened.

The truth is what you said: In the end Jackson did not sign a fully guaranteed contract. That's a stone cold fact.

The question yet to be answered is why no other team even bothered to extend an offer of something less than a guaranteed contract? That's the part that screams COLLUSION. People can say all they want about how no team wanted to extend a fully guaranteed contract. But there is no justifiable reason for why not one other team even made the effort to extend a contract that was appropriate in all other ways besides being fully guaranteed.

Just yesterday, the Falcons said they stand by their decision not to extend any offer whatsoever to Jackson. That's malfeasance at best, collusion at worst.

[mild]

This is so silly. Lamar didn't get his guaranteed contract. That is what teams didn't want to give him. Nobody said they didn't want the player. They didn't want to have to give compensation and then have to give guaranteed money. Stop pretending teams said, "Nah, Lamar isn't good, we don't want him." That is not what happened.

No, they outright said "we will not even negotiate with him" and put out press releases to that effect.

I can drag them up if you really want.

To not even attempt to negotiate with him is the part that we are hanging around these teams necks. They deserve to be shamed for it. There was nothing stopping any of them from at least putting a contract in front of Lamar, and forcing the Ravens hand.

They didn't even try.

[Sriracha]

This is so silly. Lamar didn't get his guaranteed contract. That is what teams didn't want to give him. Nobody said they didn't want the player. They didn't want to have to give compensation and then have to give guaranteed money. Stop pretending teams said, "Nah, Lamar isn't good, we don't want him." That is not what happened.

No, they outright said "we will not even negotiate with him" and put out press releases to that effect.

I can drag them up if you really want.

To not even attempt to negotiate with him is the part that we are hanging around these teams necks. They deserve to be shamed for it. There was nothing stopping any of them from at least putting a contract in front of Lamar, and forcing the Ravens hand.

They didn't even try.

This was the most blatant collusion I've ever seen out of the NFL.

Owners didn't want to set a precedent for fully guaranteed contracts or NFL players negotiating without an agent. Plain and simple. All of these excuses are just subterfuge. There were several NFL teams that should've been jumping through hoops to sign Lamar this off-seson.

[Ice]

This is so silly. Lamar didn't get his guaranteed contract. That is what teams didn't want to give him. Nobody said they didn't want the player. They didn't want to have to give compensation and then have to give guaranteed money. Stop pretending teams said, "Nah, Lamar isn't good, we don't want him." That is not what happened.

No, they outright said "we will not even negotiate with him" and put out press releases to that effect.

I can drag them up if you really want.

To not even attempt to negotiate with him is the part that we are hanging around these teams necks. They deserve to be shamed for it. There was nothing stopping any of them from at least putting a contract in front of Lamar, and forcing the Ravens hand.

They didn't even try.

This was the most blatant collusion I've ever seen out of the NFL.

Owners didn't want to set a precedent for fully guaranteed contracts or NFL players negotiating without an agent. Plain and simple. All of these excuses are just subterfuge. There were several NFL teams that should've been jumping through hoops to sign Lamar this off-seson.

Lamar got his money. Teams are not stupid. No team in their right mind would make an offer knowing the Ravens had no intention of trading him. They all saw how the negotiations went for Jackson and how stupid the Browns looked. No owner wanted next in that scenario. Intelligence is not collusion in any way.

It worked out as it should have for Lamar, the Ravens, and the NFL.

[Jigga94]

No, they outright said "we will not even negotiate with him" and put out press releases to that effect.

I can drag them up if you really want.

To not even attempt to negotiate with him is the part that we are hanging around these teams necks. They deserve to be shamed for it. There was nothing stopping any of them from at least putting a contract in front of Lamar, and forcing the Ravens hand.

They didn't even try.

This was the most blatant collusion I've ever seen out of the NFL.

Owners didn't want to set a precedent for fully guaranteed contracts or NFL players negotiating without an agent. Plain and simple. All of these excuses are just subterfuge. There were several NFL teams that should've been jumping through hoops to sign Lamar this off-seson.

Lamar got his money. Teams are not stupid. No team in their right mind would make an offer knowing the Ravens had no intention of trading him. They all saw how the negotiations went for Jackson and how stupid the Browns looked. No owner wanted next in that scenario. Intelligence is not collusion in any way.

It worked out as it should have for Lamar, the Ravens, and the NFL.

Yup, how many QB signed similar deals right after Lamar as well? 3 or 4 iirc. Burrow, Hurts, Herbert

The Watson deal looks dumber by the day

[Sriracha]

No, they outright said "we will not even negotiate with him" and put out press releases to that effect.

I can drag them up if you really want.

To not even attempt to negotiate with him is the part that we are hanging around these teams necks. They deserve to be shamed for it. There was nothing stopping any of them from at least putting a contract in front of Lamar, and forcing the Ravens hand.

They didn't even try.

This was the most blatant collusion I've ever seen out of the NFL.

Owners didn't want to set a precedent for fully guaranteed contracts or NFL players negotiating without an agent. Plain and simple. All of these excuses are just subterfuge. There were several NFL teams that should've been jumping through hoops to sign Lamar this off-seson.

Lamar got his money. Teams are not stupid. No team in their right mind would make an offer knowing the Ravens had no intention of trading him. They all saw how the negotiations went for Jackson and how stupid the Browns looked. No owner wanted next in that scenario. Intelligence is not collusion in any way.

It worked out as it should have for Lamar, the Ravens, and the NFL.

Care to elaborate on why negotiating in this situation would be such an insane course of action?

Worst case scenario, you don't get the QB and you've just upped his price for a competing team in the NFL.

[CGW]

This was the most blatant collusion I've ever seen out of the NFL.

Owners didn't want to set a precedent for fully guaranteed contracts or NFL players negotiating without an agent. Plain and simple. All of these excuses are just subterfuge. There were several NFL teams that should've been jumping through hoops to sign Lamar this off-seson.

Lamar got his money. Teams are not stupid. No team in their right mind would make an offer knowing the Ravens had no intention of trading him. They all saw how the negotiations went for Jackson and how stupid the Browns looked. No owner wanted next in that scenario. Intelligence is not collusion in any way.

It worked out as it should have for Lamar, the Ravens, and the NFL.

Care to elaborate on why negotiating in this situation would be such an insane course of action?

Worst case scenario, you don't get the QB and you've just upped his price for a competing team in the NFL.

Just brain storming here... Some of these organizations still had young QBs on the roster that they may or may not have believed in (Tua, Howell, Ridder, etc.) You want them to publically announce that they are pursuing Lamar and tell their encumbant QB they are trash? Most coaches won't do that, especially if they knew the Ravens weren't really going to let it happen. Most make it their job to build their current players' confidence, whether they believe they are trash behind closed doors or not.

That's not an excuse for teams like Carolina who didnt have a QB. But at the same time, Carolina is in a clear tear down and rebuild mode and paying a guy a gillion guaranteed dollars when you need an entire new roster also makes no sense...even if he's a stud QB.

[Anteaters]

...at the same time, Carolina is in a clear tear down and rebuild mode and paying a guy a gillion guaranteed dollars when you need an entire new roster also makes no sense...even if he's a stud QB.

Yes, it makes sense to get a young T5QB. Then Carolina could have used some of the 2023 picks they sent Chicago on Offensive Linemen. And they could have had a WR group of DJMoore, Thielen and Mingo for Jackson to toss passes to. That sounds like a pretty good plan to me.

It makes all the more sense considering that with Jackson in place the team likely would have won enough games not to have to fire its head coach and GM. Factor in the money the Panthers are going to waste on continuing to pay those contracts and Jackson's salary would suddenly look like a money saver for the franchise. Not to mention how much more money the franchise would have earned by making the playoffs.

Again, the Panthers (and every other QB needy team) had absolutely no justifiable reason for not pursuing negotiations with Jackson. None.

[Jigga94]

...at the same time, Carolina is in a clear tear down and rebuild mode and paying a guy a gillion guaranteed dollars when you need an entire new roster also makes no sense...even if he's a stud QB.

Yes, it makes sense to get a young T5QB. Then Carolina could have used some of the 2023 picks they sent Chicago on Offensive Linemen. And they could have had a WR group of DJMoore, Thielen and Mingo for Jackson to toss passes to. That sounds like a pretty good plan to me.

They would have had to deal their 2 1sts to BAL if they signed Lamar. So there wasn't going to be extra 1sts to build around him. I can see where CAR wouldn't want to pay up for Lamar in this case, but paying up for Bryce is certainly a choice.

[Sriracha]

Just brain storming here... Some of these organizations still had young QBs on the roster that they may or may not have believed in (Tua, Howell, Ridder, etc.) You want them to publically announce that they are pursuing Lamar and tell their encumbant QB they are trash? Most coaches won't do that, especially if they knew the Ravens weren't really going to let it happen. Most make it their job to build their current players' confidence, whether they believe they are trash behind closed doors or not.

That's not an excuse for teams like Carolina who didnt have a QB. But at the same time, Carolina is in a clear tear down and rebuild mode and paying a guy a gillion guaranteed dollars when you need an entire new roster also makes no sense...even if he's a stud QB.

If you can't handle a team looking into trading for an NFL MVP in the prime of their career while you've proven absolutely nothing in the NFL.. you might not be tough enough for one of the most high profile positions in sports.

The Dolphins were already invested in Tua. Howell had to "beat out" Brissett for the starting job this off-season. Ridder was a guy most people thought would fail but I'll grant that the Falcons seemed to have been sold on him this off-season given that he along with Purdy in SF and Love in GB were the only young QBs who didn't have to win the starting job; Still a monumental mistake in self-scouting and they deserve to be questioned for that decision.

[mild]

Just brain storming here... Some of these organizations still had young QBs on the roster that they may or may not have believed in (Tua, Howell, Ridder, etc.) You want them to publically announce that they are pursuing Lamar and tell their encumbant QB they are trash? Most coaches won't do that, especially if they knew the Ravens weren't really going to let it happen. Most make it their job to build their current players' confidence, whether they believe they are trash behind closed doors or not.

We're still allowed to laugh at them for thinking that Jimmy Garoppolo and Desmond Ridder and Sam Howell were options worth publically standing behind though, right?

We're circling back around to "all of these teams coaches lost their jobs" now

[Anteaters]

...at the same time, Carolina is in a clear tear down and rebuild mode and paying a guy a gillion guaranteed dollars when you need an entire new roster also makes no sense...even if he's a stud QB.

Yes, it makes sense to get a young T5QB. Then Carolina could have used some of the 2023 picks they sent Chicago on Offensive Linemen. And they could have had a WR group of DJMoore, Thielen and Mingo for Jackson to toss passes to. That sounds like a pretty good plan to me.

They would have had to deal their 2 1sts to BAL if they signed Lamar. So there wasn't going to be extra 1sts to build around him. I can see where CAR wouldn't want to pay up for Lamar in this case, but paying up for Bryce is certainly a choice.

Carolina also sent two 2nd round picks for the joy of drafting Bryce Young. Had the team instead had the wisdom to sign Jackson, those two second round picks could have been used on offensive linemen. And again, the Panthers would have still had a pro-bowl caliber WR on the roster.

Any way you look at it, the Carolina Panthers look 100% incompetent for CHOOSING to give up much more to get Bryce Young than it would have cost to get Jackson. Let's not forget the Panthers were the worst team in the NFL this season and proved it by having the worst record and a historically inept offense. It was an abysmal decision that will take the franchise several years (and a couple of coaches and GMs) to dig out of.

[Ice]

This was the most blatant collusion I've ever seen out of the NFL.

Owners didn't want to set a precedent for fully guaranteed contracts or NFL players negotiating without an agent. Plain and simple. All of these excuses are just subterfuge. There were several NFL teams that should've been jumping through hoops to sign Lamar this off-seson.

Lamar got his money. Teams are not stupid. No team in their right mind would make an offer knowing the Ravens had no intention of trading him. They all saw how the negotiations went for Jackson and how stupid the Browns looked. No owner wanted next in that scenario. Intelligence is not collusion in any way.

It worked out as it should have for Lamar, the Ravens, and the NFL.

Care to elaborate on why negotiating in this situation would be such an insane course of action?

Worst case scenario, you don't get the QB and you've just upped his price for a competing team in the NFL.

1) Lamar wanted a 100%
2) Lamar wanted to be the highest paid player in the league.
3) Lamar would have had to sign a contract then have the Ravens agree to trade him for multiple picks.

This isn't fantasy football and it's nothing like the Texans who were seeking trade partners for Watson.

NFL teams don't risk contracts with major assets in addition in hopes another team will match their offer. Lamar was the one that set the terms and the rest of the league didn't bite. Saying No collectively to a 100% contract of that magnitude doesn't make it collusion.

It is easy after the fact as no team even came close to offering a contract. Looking back it is easy to see even from the outside that Lamar didn't want to go anywhere and the Ravens didn't want him to go anywhere which is why they gave him a massive QB contract.

We can argue over the word insane I guess but no team went there so it is obvious it wasn't smart business.

The Browns after the fact still were the ones that were insane. At least they have Flacco.

[Sriracha]

1) Lamar wanted a 100%
2) Lamar wanted to be the highest paid player in the league.
3) Lamar would have had to sign a contract then have the Ravens agree to trade him for multiple picks.

This isn't fantasy football and it's nothing like the Texans who were seeking trade partners for Watson.

NFL teams don't risk contracts with major assets in addition in hopes another team will match their offer. Lamar was the one that set the terms and the rest of the league didn't bite. Saying No collectively to a 100% contract of that magnitude doesn't make it collusion.

It is easy after the fact as no team even came close to offering a contract. Looking back it is easy to see even from the outside that Lamar didn't want to go anywhere and the Ravens didn't want him to go anywhere which is why they gave him a massive QB contract.

We can argue over the word insane I guess but no team went there so it is obvious it wasn't smart business.

The Browns after the fact still were the ones that were insane. At least they have Flacco.

I'm sure elite players at all positions want to be the highest paid player in the league.. that doesn't stop teams from talking about trades or FA acquisitions.

Were they not allowed to negotiate with Lamar before making a trade offer? Because otherwise it makes 0 sense for multiple teams to so vehemently and instaneously squash the idea of bringing an elite QB over to their franchise.

Even given the contracts we just saw DEN give Russ a massive extension in a similar situation.. it's not unusual for teams to both trade significant assets and give out massive contracts in an effort to land what they consider a difference making QB. The Browns are not the only Franchise to ever do so.

The reaction by these teams with unstable QB situations to Lamar's availability is weird any way you slice it.

Only things that make sense out of the aforementioned collusion I mentioned before is that they either didn't believe Lamar was that guy or were too lazy to make the necessary offensive movement to accomodate his unique skillset.

Either way, it was a dumb position to take as a Franchise.

[Ice]

1) Lamar wanted a 100%
2) Lamar wanted to be the highest paid player in the league.
3) Lamar would have had to sign a contract then have the Ravens agree to trade him for multiple picks.

This isn't fantasy football and it's nothing like the Texans who were seeking trade partners for Watson.

NFL teams don't risk contracts with major assets in addition in hopes another team will match their offer. Lamar was the one that set the terms and the rest of the league didn't bite. Saying No collectively to a 100% contract of that magnitude doesn't make it collusion.

It is easy after the fact as no team even came close to offering a contract. Looking back it is easy to see even from the outside that Lamar didn't want to go anywhere and the Ravens didn't want him to go anywhere which is why they gave him a massive QB contract.

We can argue over the word insane I guess but no team went there so it is obvious it wasn't smart business.

The Browns after the fact still were the ones that were insane. At least they have Flacco.

I'm sure elite players at all positions want to be the highest paid player in the league.. that doesn't stop teams from talking about trades or FA acquisitions.

Were they not allowed to negotiate with Lamar before making a trade offer? Because otherwise it makes 0 sense for multiple teams to so vehemently and instaneously squash the idea of bringing an elite QB over to their franchise.

Even given the contracts we just saw DEN give Russ a massive extension in a similar situation.. it's not unusual for teams to both trade significant assets and give out massive contracts in an effort to land what they consider a difference making QB. The Browns are not the only Franchise to ever do so.

The reaction by these teams with unstable QB situations to Lamar's availability is weird any way you slice it.

Only things that make sense out of the aforementioned collusion I mentioned before is that they either didn't believe Lamar was that guy or were too lazy to make the necessary offensive movement to accomodate his unique skillset.

Either way, it was a dumb position to take as a Franchise.

I guess it is a dumb position in your eyes but then again the Ravens are the #1 seed in the AFC and Lamar is the QB under a fat new contract and sure to be MVP.

I elaborated on your request. I am 100% certain this was never a collusion issue but an expectation difference between Lamar, the Ravens, and ultimately the rest of the league. The Ravens did give Lamar an option and felt strongly and correctly his demands were unrealistic.

All of them played by the rules and Lamar and the Ravens seem pleased with the outcome looking back.

My take is you are assuming the Ravens wanted to trade him. The Tag was used to keep him as it was designed to do that very thing. The fallacy in your argument from my perspective is you somehow think the Ravens wanted to move him just because they gave him an option to seek a trade. The reality is the tag has strings that only the Ravens could pull and all teams know how tags work.

The Ravens played their cards perfectly and Kudos to Lamar who also played the negotiation game very well signing a contract worth 260 Million if he plays up to it. He was already paid 80 Million. He will earn 56,250,000.00 next season and then 52 million each year in 25,26,& 27.