The Baltimore Ravens took Zay Flowers at 22, one pick ahead of the Minnesota Vikings. Aside from one purple team snagging a receiver the other one may have wanted, something else notable happened here. Lamar Jackson tweeted his approval of the pick. At first, that seems inconsequential to the Vikings. If anything, it shut the door on the minute possibility that Minnesota would make a last-ditch effort to trade for Jackson. Hours later, Jackson signed a $260 million contract that pays him a league-high $52 million per year.
Why does that matter to the Vikings? Let me explain.
Jackson negotiated with Baltimore for 27 months before he signed the extension. Instead of hiring an agent, Jackson represented himself in the negotiations. That led to animosity between Jackson and the Ravens. Jackson wanted a fully guaranteed contract like the $230 million deal the Cleveland Browns gave Deshaun Watson. Baltimore didn’t want to guarantee that much money. Nor did most other teams in the league. Turmoil ensued.
On March 27, Jackson tweeted a thread saying that he requested a trade during John Harbaugh’s press conference at the owners’ meetings. Jackson said he asked for the trade on March 2 before the Ravens put a non-exclusive franchise tag on him. The non-exclusive tag allows Baltimore to pay Jackson less but other teams to trade for him. The assembled media naturally asked Harbaugh about the tweets. But Harbaugh hadn’t seen them – how could he have? Everyone was talking about it the next day. Jackson got the attention he wanted on it.
A week later, on April 5, Ravens GM Eric DeCosta and Harbaugh met with the media before the draft. WJZ’s Alex Glaze asked if Baltimore’s ongoing negotiations with Jackson would affect its draft strategy. However, a Ravens PR person cut Glaze off in the middle of his question, indicating that the team had asked reporters not to ask about Jackson. Glaze’s inquiry was perfectly valid, though. He tied it directly to the draft. But it led to an awkward moment, which the expressions on DeCosta and Harbaugh’s faces perfectly encapsulated.
Ultimately, Baltimore’s off-season strategy paid off. They signed Odell Beckham Jr. in free agency, drafted Flowers, and inked Jackson to a $260 million contract with $185 million guaranteed. It’s the biggest deal in Ravens franchise history. Jackson makes $1 million more per year than Jalen Hurts, who recently signed a $255 million extension with the Philadelphia Eagles. And Baltimore rolls into next season with a more dynamic offense. Win-win.
What can the Vikings learn from this situation? Think about it for a sec.
Kirk Cousins is in the final year of his contract. He reportedly was willing to take a team-friendly extension, but the Vikings balked at it. Cousins wasn’t willing to do another one-year deal; Minnesota wants to clean up its books eventually. The Vikings had to reduce his cap hit to be cap compliant, so they converted some of his salary into a signing bonus and kicked the hit into the future. As a result, Cousins has a $28.25 million cap hit next year, $10.25 million in 2025, and $4 million hits in 2026 and 2027. To many, he’s as good as gone. The team will just be paying off the credit card for a while.
Za’Darius Smith and Dalvin Cook’s contracts are part of why the Vikings had to defer so much of Cousins’ money into the future. Smith has a $15.49 million cap hit next year, the third-highest on the team behind Brian O’Neill ($19.66 million). Cook has a $14.10 million hit, which is the fourth-highest. Smith received Comeback Player Of the Year votes and made the Pro Bowl, but he said his goodbyes on social media in the offseason. However, he’s still under contract with Minnesota for next season. It’s an awkward situation. Meanwhile, the Vikings re-signed Alexander Mattison, and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is an analytically savvy GM. What are the odds that he wants an expensive 28-year-old running back on the books?
At first glance, it seems obvious what will happen. Cousins will ride out the final year of his contract, and the Vikings will replace him next year. Meanwhile, they’ll make Smith and Cook post-June 1 cuts to have more financial flexibility with their dead money. It would always be challenging to move Smith and Cook during the draft because other teams knew Minnesota is in a tight cap situation. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that they’re still on the roster. But will they be when Training Camp opens in August? They weren’t at voluntary workouts this week. That doesn’t mean anything definitively, Danielle Hunter and Justin Jefferson weren’t either, but it’s not a great sign.
Still, things aren’t always as they seem in the NFL. Or, perhaps more pertinently, things can change quickly. Jackson looked as good as gone from Baltimore. He let the world know he wanted out during his coach’s press conference in late March, and it didn’t seem like the team wanted to talk about him heading into the draft. But Jackson has re-signed with the Ravens, and most people will forget the finer details of this saga as time goes on. Cousins wants to retire in Minnesota, and he can if he performs well this year. The Vikings could still use an edge rusher, and Smith’s contract is affordable for a cap-strapped team. Cook’s deal is hardly a value, but he’s still a difference-maker for an offense that will probably have to carry the team.
Minnesota’s lesson from the Lamar Jackson saga? Everything can change in an instant.
