Rebuking notions Ravens may regret Lamar Jackson and Justin Madubuike extensions

Having players at premium positions on expensive multi-year deals is a good problem to have. It often means a team hit on an elite talent worth backing up the brink’s truck for and paying top of the market.

In each of the past two offseasons, the Baltimore Ravens were able to retain their top pending free agents by handing out big paydays. The players were franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson in 2023 and defensive tackle Justin Madubuike this past March.

Jackson immediately rewarded the team’s faith in him by producing his second career MVP campaign and Madubuike continued his upward ascension by breaking out in 2023. Despite this, however, both players were named in a recent article by Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon about ‘Recent Blockbuster NFL Contracts That Teams Are Likely to Regret.’

QB Lamar Jackson

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The Ravens applied the non-exclusive franchise tag to Jackson before ultimately agreeing to a five-year extension worth $260 million with $185 million guaranteed and an average annual salary of $52 million.

“It was either that or the franchise tag, which would have been just as costly in the short term while leaving the Ravens vulnerable long-term,” Gagnon wrote. “That is unless they had decided to part ways.”

Gagnon’s reason for why the Ravens might regret Jackson’s deal is extraordinarily nonsensical. It applies to every franchise quarterback over the past half-decade not named Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow or Jalen Hurts and only three of those players led their respective teams to victory.

“While Jackson immediately put together an MVP campaign for the Ravens, he again failed to get them to a Super Bowl,” Gagnon wrote. “Now, he’ll become more expensive and the rest of the roster will decline as a result.”

Gagnon went on to call Jackson “somewhat fragile” and an “often-exposed quarterback”, neither of which is true. Both of the minor injuries that ended his 2021 and 2022 seasons short were freak accidents. They resulted from failures in pass protection more than an inability to protect himself or stay healthy. Most educated pundits actually commend Jackson for his ability to avoid big hits when scrambling and carrying the ball in the open field.

Jackson is the best dual-threat quarterback in NFL history who serves as the ultimate amplifier for those around him. He presents a dangerous threat as a playmaker and creates more opportunities for his weapons to make plays in the running and passing game.

At the time he inked his new deal, the three-time Pro Bowler and two-time First Team All Pro became the highest-paid player in NFL history. His time holding the mantle was short-lived, though. He has since been surpassed in terms of average annual salary by the likes of Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions, and most recently Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In just over a year, he went from sitting at the top of the market to barely ranking in the Top 5. What Gagnon doesn’t understand is the going rate for franchise quarterbacks raises with each new deal. Whether Dak Prescott hits the open market or not next offseason, he’ll likely top the current highest-paid quarterback.

DT Justin Madubuike

Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Ravens initially applied the exclusive franchise tag to Madubuike before agreeing to a four-year extension worth $98 million with $75.5 million guaranteed. His average annual salary is $24.5 million.

“His rookie contract had expired, and the Ravens can’t afford to bleed too much talent if they’re going to capitalize on this window with Lamar Jackson,” Gagnon wrote.

While the career-high 13 sacks Madubuike recorded in 2023 was more than his previous three season’s totals combined, he is far from the “one-year wonder” Gagnon suggests he might end up being. During his first few seasons in the league, the 2020 third-rounder was a rotational player behind more established veterans such as Calais Campbell and Derrick Wolfe. Last year was his first being one of the lead dogs and playing more than 60 percent of the team’s total defensive snaps.

Madubuike sack totals were on a steady increase in each of his first three seasons before exploding last year. Even if he falls short of reaching double-digit figures again, his consistency and disruptive playmaking will likely still be on the rise moving forward.

Unlike Jackson, the 2023 Pro Bowler never held the mantle of being the highest-paid player at his position. Aaron Donald’s retirement vaulted him a spot higher in the Top 5 of interior defensive linemen in terms of average annual salary. Less than a week after the Ravens locked up Madubuike, his deal already looked like a great bargain. The Kansas City Chiefs made Chris Jones the new highest-paid defensive tackle ($31.75 million) and then the Las Vegas Raiders made Christian Wilkins the second highest-paid by signing him away from the Miami Dolphins ($27.5 million).