Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews are both next in line to receive big paydays amongst their respective position groups.
The Ravens have been one of the most-successful teams of the past decade and there’s no one in the building that wants to see that change anytime soon. To make that happen, the good players have to keep getting paid, and paid, and paid.
Coming up shortly, Baltimore will potentially have two stars in line for massive pay days. One is quarterback Lamar Jackson and this one is the most no-brainer decision they could possibly have. But the other is tight end Mark Andrews who is coming off a season that — while he did hit a career-high 11 touchdown catches — his year will mainly be remembered by a dropped touchdown pass in the playoff loss to the Bills.
Still, Andrews is one of the best tight ends in the league and those absolutely do not grow on trees. So will the Ravens end up paying him next offseason? Only time will tell.
But if you all want some rough numbers on what their next deals could look like for the Ravens, NFL.com senior researcher Anthony Holzman-Escareno put together a brand new All-Paid Team of Tomorrow, focusing on all of the top players at each position who could and should be next in line to reset the market.
When it comes to Jackson, Holzman-Escareno projects his next contract to reach upwards of $65 million per year. That type of money would beat out Josh Allen’s recent extension ($60million/yea) by $5 million. That’s quite the jump, but if the salary cap follows the same upwards trajectory as it did this offseason, the money should be there.
Here’s a little of what Holzman-Escareno had to say about Jackson and his placement at the top of the quarterback position:
“It seems so long ago that the Ravens placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson. Any team could have signed him to an offer sheet and, if the Ravens didn’t match it, said team could have acquired his services in exchange for two first-round picks. Not one organization put forth a bid. Instead, Jackson represented himself and signed a five-year, $260 million extension with the Ravens in April 2023, setting an NFL record at the time.”
“Jackson promptly won his second NFL MVP award in 2023, then turned in the best year of his career in 2024, becoming the first player in NFL history to lead the NFL in both pass yards per attempt (8.8) and yards per carry (6.6) in the same season (minimum 125 carries). Jackson’s obvious game-changing ability on the ground — he’s already the all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks, with 6,173 rushing yards — can overshadow his passing prowess.”
“Jackson still has three years remaining on his current contract, but with a cap hit that will reach $74.5 million in 2026, an extension to bring that number down seems likely. Odds are Jackson will be the quarterback to dethrone Dak Prescott ($60 million APY) on the top of the NFL salary scale. His first long-term deal made him the highest-paid player in NFL history at the time of its signing. His next one will do the same again.”
As for Andrews, Holzman-Escareno put things into perspective. Regardless of his final catch attempt of the 2024 season, Andrews did some amazing things last year. Whether he ends up staying with the Ravens for the latter part of his career or not, some team is going to pay him a lot of money to be their TE1.
“The focus will be on his nightmarish game against the Bills in the playoffs, which is understandable, but Andrews quietly had an efficient and productive 2024 season leading up to that day.”
“He returned to play in every game after missing seven contests in 2023. After not scoring in the first five weeks of the season, Andrews led all tight ends with a career-high 11 receiving touchdowns. From Weeks 6-18, the only player with more TD grabs than Andrews was Ja’Marr Chase, with 12. Andrews’ production did decline in some categories, which can largely be attributed to his role in the Baltimore offense. Andrews commanded just 4.1 targets per game, his first time finishing with fewer than six per game since his rookie season. He caught 55 of his 69 targets (79.7%) and averaged nearly 10 yards per target, his most since first becoming a Pro Bowler in 2019.”
“Entering the final season of a four-year, $56 million extension he signed in 2021, Andrews returns with a contract to play for and something to prove. If Andrews can put together a good season, he could be able to challenge George Kittle’s position-leading $19.1 million APY. If it happens, I would expect it to be on a shorter-term deal.”
So what do you all think of Jackson and Andrews being included on this team? Is Jackson going to be that next big quarterback deal to get done? What about Andrews? Do you foresee any other tight end pushing for a new deal before him? Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments below!