Lamar Jackson addressed his contract situation for the first time since the end of the 2025 season, saying the fully guaranteed contract conversation should stay in 2022. After the Ravens restructured his deal in March to reduce his 2026 cap number by nearly $
Lamar Jackson’s first media session since the end of the 2025 season didn’t last long before the same question followed him: where does this relationship go from here?
The Ravens restructured Jackson’s contract in March with a clear goal—slashing his cap number for 2026 by nearly $40 million. But the restructuring pushed the financial pressure forward. Jackson is now set to have a cap hit of nearly $85 million in 2027. a number that has kept extension talk alive even though no agreement has been reached.
Jackson made it plain he doesn’t want to revisit the agreement discussion through the public lens. When asked about his communication with the team, he said he’s going to “keep those conversations private” and that “we’ll go from there” after the restructure.
The most direct line he drew was about the type of deal he wanted before signing his current contract. Jackson asked for a fully guaranteed contract when he signed, but he wasn’t interested in turning back to that demand now.
“What year was that? 2022? That conversation is in 2022,” Jackson said, via a transcript from the team. “This is 2026. We [are] going to leave that conversation in 2022. We’re going to leave it in 2022.”
Even with that message, Jackson didn’t dismiss the underlying reality that will keep hovering around his future. He said he “absolutely” still envisions himself staying with the Ravens. But contract uncertainty has a way of returning until the numbers and the terms stop colliding—especially while his current deal remains in place and the next major cap impact is scheduled for 2027.
For now. the public debate pauses at Jackson’s insistence on privacy. even as the structural gap created by the March restructuring remains on the books. The Ravens have set the financial stage; Jackson has set a boundary on the conversation. Where that leaves everyone—team officials and fans alike—will depend on what happens after the private discussions end.
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