Lamar: 'I requested a trade from the Ravens'

Two Factors to consider:

• Cousins is 35 years old and Jackson is 26
• Cousins had JJ and Theilen to throw to.......quick, name Jacksons' receivers

An interesting thing about that is that traditional QBs have often played into their late 30s, but Lamar Jackson is more like a hybrid QB-RB, and RBs generally age out relatively early. Insofar as Lamar's success is built on his running ability, what is his situation going to look like when he is 30, has lost a step (perhaps more) as a runner and increasingly has to be more of a traditional passer? That game might decline quickly. 

Without looking it up, I would guess that Mark Andrews, TE, was their leading receiver last year.

Ok, looking it up, Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews were either #1 or #2 in 2019-2021, with Willie Snead #3 in the first two years, and Bateman #3 in 2021. IOW, Jackson's drop in productivity happened even though he had the same to two receivers until last year. And yes, Mark Andrews was their leading receiver last year.

Here are the more important numbers, IMO:
Rushing attempts:
2018 147
2019 176
2020 159
2021 133
2022 112

Lamar's game is only special because of his legs, but just like RBs, he's not likely to last at a high level into his mid 30s. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kirk and Lamar be done in the league at nearly the same time.

To be fair, you really need to list rushing yards in there too. 

If I was a GM, I’d call Lamar, tell him how I think he could be great for our franchise, and that I think he really has a future in the league, and then offer him the vet minimum. I sincerely hope he holds out so long that he doesn’t even end up getting that much before his career is over. F*VK these athletes who think $125M guaranteed isn’t “worthy” of their value for simply running fast and throwing far. I can list 50 professions right off the top of my head that “regular” people do for society that have far more worth than Lamar or any other QB will ever possess. They’re turning down Powerball money at this point. Someone needs to rein in their unbelievably gargantuan egos.

Owners are called owners for a reason. Owners of companies paid a lot of money for (or worked extremely hard to build) the thing they own. They’re entitled to the profits generated by the thing they own. This is a simple principle that applies to any business, whether that’s your mom’s little bakery or an NFL owner’s football team.

Rich-people-envy isn’t a viable argument for why a guy who doesn’t own any part of that team, isn’t entitled to any part of its profits, is -not- the best QB in the league, and has already been offered lottery money to do his job - whose total potential value would have put him squarely among the top 3 contracts in league HISTORY, with his guaranteed money putting him in the top ~6 - should expect or deserve even more than that.

He was already offered more value than what’s justified by his career performance. His ego is in the way. He deserves to rot. He won’t, by the way. He’ll still end up likely with AT LEAST $100M over the next 2-3 years no matter what, which is honestly an absolute robbery.