The Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson were able to finally put pen to paper on the contract that they agreed to one week ago on Thursday. The deal ends a long and drawn-out process that included plenty of ups and downs, but Jackson is officially Baltimore’s quarterback for the next five seasons.
On Thursday, Jackson, general manager Eric DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh sat down for a press conference to celebrate Jackson’s contract. When DeCosta was asked about collusion, he described the quarterback’s style as an agent in his answer to the question, with multiple different perspectives on how Jackson approached his contract negotiations.
“Not much. I speak to Lamar [Jackson]; Lamar speaks to me. There’s no collusion when it’s me and Lamar speaking together. I think the conversations were great. I always understood where he was coming from, and I always thought he understood where I was coming from. Certainly, we didn’t always agree necessarily, or we would have gotten a deal done a lot sooner, but the respect has always been there, [and] the appreciation has always been there. We both love the Ravens, and we both love this community. It took some time. In the end, it was really two people. I was dealing with Lamar Jackson the agent. [He was] very impressive, patient, demanding, honest, straightforward. It wasn’t always easy. I’d rather deal with Lamar Jackson the player, I think, but in the end, it was just Lamar and I talking, texting, emailing each other trying to get a deal done. There were really no other factors involved.”