We are a day away from NFL teams having to place franchise tags on their players if they see fit. As of yet, the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson have not come to an agreement on a new contract, nor have the Ravens placed a franchise tag on Jackson. I wrote an article last week where I stated how important it was for Desmond Ridder to play well and earn the starting quarterback job for the Falcons because the Falcons would have to give up way too much draft capital to pry Lamar Jackson from the Ravens... in a trade. I still stand by that, but this is different.
It is widely speculated that the Ravens will place a non-exclusive franchise tag on Lamar Jackson. What the non-exclusive franchise tag means: Other teams would be able to offer Jackson a contract, and the Ravens would then be able to match it and retain Jackson's services. If the Ravens choose not to match the offer, then Jackson would be free to sign with the team that gave him the offer, and the team would have to relinquish two first-round draft picks. This is something that I would do. To trade for Lamar Jackson, you would have to give up two-three first round draft picks, additional picks, and probably Desmond Ridder as well. To sign him off of the non-exclusive franchise deal, it would still cost you a lot of money in the deal itself (the Falcons have over $50 million in available cap space), plus the two first-round picks. Andy Bunker and Randy McMichael spoke about this, and they say that while giving up two first-round draft picks is still a lot, having Lamar Jackson on the teams pretty much guarantees that the 2023 pick will not be a high one anyway, as this deal would probably make them the best team in the division.