RAVENS USE FRANCHISE TAG ON JACKSON
The Baltimore Ravens announced Tuesday that they were designating Lamar Jackson as their franchise player, preventing him from becoming an unrestricted free agent this month after the expiration of his rookie contract.
The deadline to apply the franchise tag was 1 p.m. The Ravens were always expected to use the tag if they didn’t reach a long-term deal with Jackson first. The team and its star quarterback can continue negotiating now, although the nonexclusive tag means he can negotiate with other teams, too.
“There have been many instances across the league and in Baltimore when a player has been designated with the franchise tag and signed a longterm deal that same year,” General Manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement. “We will continue to negotiate in good faith with Lamar, and we are hopeful that we can strike a long-term deal that is fair to both Lamar and the Ravens. Our ultimate goal is to build a championship team with Lamar Jackson leading the way for many years to come.”
The Ravens would have a chance to match any agreement between Jackson and another team, and if they chose not to match, they’d receive two first-round draft picks in return. If Jackson plays this season on the franchise tag, he’d make $32.4 million.
Baltimore could have prevented Jackson from negotiating with anyone else by using the exclusive-rights franchise tag, but that could have cost significantly more. The Cowboys used the exclusive franchise tag on QB Dak Prescott in 2020. A year later, they reached a long-term deal with him.
So now the saga between Jackson and the Ravens enters its next phase. Josh Allen, the other star quarterback drafted in 2018 with Jackson, signed a long-term deal with Buffalo two offseasons ago. Jackson, on the other hand, entered last season still without an extension. His contract status didn’t seem too disruptive last offseason — he participated in mandatory minicamp and training camp — but there’s no telling how the next few months will go.
Giants sign Jones, tag Barkley
After days of intense, downto-the wire negotiations, the New York Giants agreed to a four-year contract with quarterback Daniel Jones and put a franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley.
The Giants confirmed the deal with Jones on Tuesday night. The agreement with his agents was reached with the franchise tag deadline minutes away.
“We had productive conversations with Daniel and his representatives over the course of the past week or so,” general manager Joe Schoen said. “We are all pleased that we were able to come to an agreement prior to today’s deadline. This gives us a greater ability to continue to build our roster.”
Free football on Black Friday
Prime Video will give an early Christmas gift to football fans for the coming season: Amazon announced the Black Friday game on Nov. 24 will be available for all fans to stream for free.
The 2023 season will mark the first time the league has scheduled a game for the day after Thanksgiving. The teams for the noon game will be announced later.
Notable
The Kansas City Chiefs are about to have two big holes to fill, along with plenty of salary cap space to do it, as they enter free agency and begin putting together a roster for the defense of their Super Bowl title.
The Chiefs plan to decline using the franchise tag for the second time on left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., and they will release pass rusher Frank Clark, a person familiar with the decisions said.
• Veteran left tackle Donovan Smith was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a cost-cutting move.
The durable 2015 secondround draft pick started 124 regular-season and seven playoff games over eight seasons with the Bucs, who entered the offseason more than $58 million dollars over the NFL salary cap. Releasing Smith, who signed a two-year, $31.8 million contract extension in March 2021, creates about $9.95 million in cap space.
• Outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter, who was second on the team with four sacks in 2022, will remain with the Atlanta Falcons on a two-year deal.