He has not threatened to request a trade.
But the people around the league who watch contract negotiations closely are watching this situation and saying out loud what the Ravens do not want to hear.
Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom reported this week that numerous NFL executives and agents have told him they expect Jackson to eventually request a trade if contract talks continue to stall, drawing a direct parallel to 2023 when Jackson formally requested a trade before ultimately re-signing with Baltimore.
"Numerous NFL executives and agents have told SportsBoom they expect Jackson to eventually request a trade, as he did in the past, with his timeline for getting a new deal consistently behind his peers, even when his production is historically significant," La Canfora wrote.
"If he's not signed by Week 1, I don't think he's back in 2027," one longtime personnel executive said. "Something keeps holding them back. Something's not right there."
Why the Parallel to 2023 Is Being Drawn
Patrick Mahomes received a blockbuster extension recently that reset the quarterback market, and Jackson, who is 29 years old and entering the final two years of the five-year, $260 million deal he signed in 2023, now has a new market-setting number to point to.
The Ravens were open about their desire to get a new deal done before the start of free agency in March.
That did not happen.
Baltimore and Lamar Jackson were very close on a contract last summer. Very interesting it didn't happen and it's been quiet since.
— Neal Driscoll (@NealDriscoll) June 14, 2026
Dolphins and Cowboys are two teams Jackson has expressed interest in playing for in the past.
Ultimately, Baltimore and Lamar will likely get… https://t.co/N75D1B6cY6
Minicamp ended without a resolution, with the two sides still far apart on terms.
Jackson's previous trade request was less about wanting to leave and more about using leverage to force a deal on his terms, a hammer he felt he had to wield.
That hammer now looks considerably more complicated to use, because Jackson is already on a record-setting contract with two years remaining, meaning the Ravens have more structural leverage than they did in 2023 when he was on the franchise tag.
The Names Being Discussed
La Canfora's identified the Falcons, Panthers, and Rams as the three most frequently mentioned landing spots in early executive speculation.
Those conversations are entirely hypothetical at this stage.
Jackson has said nothing publicly to suggest a trade is imminent or desired.
Lamar Jackson throwing Dots to Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt 👀 pic.twitter.com/kuyrbIdlDu
— JacksonMuse (@Jackson_Muse) May 26, 2026
But the executives around the league are not saying this without reason, and the Ravens have been through this movie before.
How quickly they move to resolve it will determine whether 2026 ends with Jackson in Baltimore long-term or somewhere else.
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
