Ravens put non-exclusive franchise tag on Lamar Jackson

Lamar Jackson is available to any team that can sign him to a contract and is willing to give the Ravens two first-round draft picks.

The Ravens put the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson today. That means Jackson will be free to negotiate with other NFL teams, and can sign an offer sheet with any team that makes him a contract offer to his liking. Once he signs, the Ravens will have the option of either matching the offer and keeping Jackson, or declining to match the offer and taking the other team’s 2023 and 2024 first-round draft picks.

Jackson could also sign the one-year franchise tender and stay with the Ravens for a guaranteed salary of $32.4 million for the 2023 season, then hit free agency again (or get franchise tagged again) in 2024.

If the Ravens had put the exclusive tag on Jackson, it would have guaranteed him a salary of $45 million for the 2023 season, and would have prevented other teams from signing him.

For all the Ravens’ talk that they are 200 percent committed to bringing Jackson back, the reality of giving him the non-exclusive tag is that there’s a real chance he won’t remain in Baltimore. Jackson is about to hit the open market, and he may be playing elsewhere this year.