On Thursday, April 27th, the Baltimore Ravens announced via social media that they have officially re-signed their star quarterback Lamar Jackson. 

After a long wait the fans of Baltimore can finally be at ease. Many months of speculation that Jackson was to leave the Ravens have finally ended after he signed a contract extension of 5 years. 

Jackson’s contract makes him the highest paid NFL player as his contract offers him $260 million over the 5 years. He sits at $52 million a year putting him $1 million over Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts who is making $51 million a year. 

While many are excited that Jackson is back in Baltimore with additional offensive weapons in Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers. Many are still highly critical of the quarterback. 

While there is no denying his outstanding talent and skill, many analysts don’t believe he has the pedigree to be the highest paid NFL player. Jackson was the 2019 unanimous MVP of the NFL, and he has an amazing regular season record, he only has one playoff victory. These failures in the postseason are what cause concern for many critics as they tend to compare Jackson to other players. 

For example, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is making $45 million a year although he has a much more impressive career than Jackson and Hurts. Compared to Jackson’s MVP and one postseason victory, Mahomes has 2 Super Bowls, 3 Conference Championships, 2 MVP awards, and is 11-3 in the postseason. 

Mahomes has a more impressive career in a similar time frame to Jackson, but that is not to diminish Jackson in anyway. Lamar Jackson is a quarterback that can be built around to make an impressive team that could make a Super Bowl run. 

With Lamar Jackson back in town, Baltimore fans should be ecstatic about their team for this upcoming season.