lamar jackson

NFL Insider Says One NFL Team to Watch for Lamar Jackson

One NFL insider believes he has a landing spot for Lamar Jackson, if only because it would take a crazy owner to pull it off.

That’s why Mike Giardi with the NFL Network predicted Friday that the Washington Commanders could emerge as the winner of the high-dollar, Lamar Jackson sweepstakes. And Giardi doesn’t want Jackson to make the 40-mile move between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

In order to sign Jackson, any team would need to offer a fully-guaranteed contract of $250 million. The deal would build on what the Browns gave to Deshaun Watson last spring. Most NFL owners balked at that kind of money last year. And the Ravens don’t want to do that deal, either. After a year of negotiations, Baltimore placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Lamar Jackson this week. He can start talking to NFL teams next week, but the Ravens can match any offer he receives.

“There’s one team out there that would follow in the Cleveland vein,” Giardi predicted.

And that’s Washington.

Would Lamar Jackson Make the 40-Mile Slide from Baltimore to Washington?

Giardi offered more details as to why he thinks the Commanders will jump in with Jackson. And none of it is very complimentary of Commanders owner Dan Snyder, who may or may not be selling the Washington franchise.

“That whole situation is all over the place,” Giardi said. “There’s bad story after bad story. The owner is very combative. What better way for Daniel Snyder … Baltimore, Washington. I steal your quarterback. I take him for $250 million, plus, whatever it’s going to take …. They’ve had a hole at quarterback, I guess you could say Kirk Cousins was the last good one. They didn’t really care about Kirk Cousins. In fact, the old GM couldn’t really remember his name.”

So that’s why Giardi said he’s got Jackson to the Commanders “on my radar because Daniel Snyder has shown he’s someone who’ll do whatever the hell he wants. And this is a whatever-the-hell you want scenario. Now that said, I don’t think I’d want (Lamar Jackson) there because that organization has been unstable for a long time.”

And Giardi explained why he likes Jackson to stay where he is. “I’m at training camp and it’s 100 degrees,” he said. “The kids (are) wearing black No. 8 jerseys. Those are hot. They’re heavy, it’s gross. No, no, no, they’re not taking them off because they wanted to greet Lamar on the field. He means that much to the whole place.

“I think there are about 25 teams that should think he should be their guy going forward.”

There are rumblings that not too many teams will deal with Lamar Jackson. The quarterback represents himself. He’s asking for big, guaranteed money. And with his style of play, he’s also injury prone. One NFL agent told Yahoo Sports that if another team gives Jackson the deal, the contract could ruin the franchise if Jackson goes down with a significant injury.

So will Snyder buck the trend? It’s a storyline to watch.