‘I want to throw about 6,000 yards’: Ravens’ Lamar Jackson challenges his new receivers after officially signing a $260 million, five-year extension to stay in Baltimore
- Jackson officially signed a five-year, $260 million contract, making him the highest-paid QB
- The Ravens added WR’s Odell Beckham Jr. in the offseason. and Nelson Agholor
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Baltimore Ravens superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson officially signed a five-year, $260 million contract Thursday, making him the highest-paid QB in the league.
Jackson’s deal set a total of three NFL records for signing bonus, three-year cash flow and average per season, but what was perhaps more remarkable was the challenge he issued to his wide receivers in an off-season that saw him go full-on offense . make over.
“I want to throw like 20,000 feet with the guns we have,” Jackson said, laughing.
“I’m not an individual prize-type guy or a stat-watcher. I just want to do that because no one has ever done it and I feel like we have the guns to do it.”
Baltimore added several talented passcatchers in free agent wide outs in Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor to go with first round draft pick Zay Flowers.
Jackson officially signed a five-year, $260 million contract, making him the highest-paid QB
The Ravens previously signed a contract with Odell Beckham Jr., contributing to a growing receiving corps
Baltimore added a new offensive coordinator in former Georgia Bulldogs OC Todd Monken
To top it all off, they also added a new offensive coordinator in former Georgia Bulldogs OC Todd Monken to transform the offense from the heavy scheduling that became common under former OC Greg Roman.
The final piece of the Ravens offense was re-signing Jackson after the two sides spent the past two years trying to strike a deal and at one point it looked like he was closer to leaving the team than re-signing.
Jackson was originally franchise tagged to begin the off-season and he eventually requested a trade with the organization.
He declined to speak about the trade request at the press conference, insisting he just focused on fulfilling the promise he made five years ago about bringing a title to Baltimore.
“I didn’t really care about other teams, I wanted to be here. I want to be a Raven,” Jackson said. “I said something in 2018 and I meant it.
Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews remains a top target for Jackson
The Ravens also added first round pick Zay Flowers (left) and former Eagle Nelson Agholor
“I wanted to finish this before my time [is] up and branch out elsewhere. I really want to end my career here and win a Super Bowl here.”
The deal that signed Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts also proved helpful, as it gave a clearer picture of the quarterback market for Jackson, despite the $230 million in guaranteed money the Cleveland Browns gave Deshaun Watson last summer.
“I definitely wanted to get it done because I was tired of going back and forth about it,” said Jackson.
“We’ve been doing it for years, but it was like the time had come. The numbers were right and we were all satisfied.”