The two-time league MVP cost himself a six-figure pay day by missing too many voluntary organized team activities.
One of the top storylines of the Baltimore Ravens offseason program pertaining to franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson, aside from the inches he lost from his waistline, has been his surprising amount of absences from Organized Team Activities (OTAs).
During a press conference this past Thursday, head coach John Harbaugh didn’t comment much on the topic outside of saying “it’s just this time of year.” He reiterated that this is still the voluntary portion of the offseason program.
“It’s really not something that we comment on,” Harbaugh said. “We can’t, and that’s just the time of year it is. So, I can’t speak for anybody that’s not here. I pretty much know the different reasons guys aren’t here most of the time, but not always. Nobody’s required to tell you exactly what’s going on, so I’m not really specifically going to be able to comment on anybody that way. But the guys who were here were great, flying around, and those are the guys we had a great time coaching.”
According to a report from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the reigning league MVP has already accumulated enough absences from the team’s voluntary workouts that it cost him a workout bonus clause in his contract of $750,000.
Lamar Jackson’s offseason absences have kept him from earning a $750,000 workout bonus. https://t.co/UrCOAwFzJI
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 1, 2024
“To qualify, he must participate in 80 percent of the offseason workouts, excluding mandatory minicamp,” Florio wrote. “He has already missed too many workouts, we’re told, to earn the $750,000 this year.”
“The annual $750,000 payment were initially believed to be offseason roster bonuses. That is not the case; they are workout bonuses. Failure to earn the bonus drops his 2024 compensation from $32.5 million to $31.75 million.”
A six-figure salary is more than what the vast majority of Americans and even a section of NFL players make in a year. However, a multi-millionaire such as Jackson who just over a year removed from inking a five-year contract extension worth $52 million annually, $750,000 isn’t anything to lose any sleep over. However, it does beg the question of why agree to have those bonuses included in the contract in the first place if ensuring that would be reached wouldn’t be a high priority.
There are often a myriad of legitimate reasons why players miss out on the voluntary portion of their respective team’s offseason programs. For example, Harbaugh shared that the reason veteran wide receiver and projected starting return specialist Deonte Hardy has been absent thus far from OTAs was for the birth of his child.
Jackson could have a different but still very valid reason for not being in attendance. However, Florio would be right about one thing for once as it pertains to the Ravens if his report is indeed true, “$750,000 is $750,000. And, for whatever reason, $750,000 is gone for good.”