Jeff Darlington

**Mark** · 03-24-2023, 08:56 AM

Dumb take by Darlington

**Mmcclend** · 03-24-2023, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by Twitch11

Stupid speculation. The Ravens believe they gave him a vey fair offer. They have said that repeatedly. They also said that teams would be surprised to learn what they offered. The Ravens are not looking for affirmation on a different deal. They don't believe another team will offer a better deal. Ravens have no reason to sweeten their offer. Lamar will not even negotiate. The ball is in Lamar's court. Ravens built the offense around Lamar and feel they value Lamar more than any other franchise. They feel that giving him the 2nd highest guaranteed amount ever and the 2nd highest AAV is a great offer. Maybe they need to talk to Ken Francis about it. Maybe they can throw in a squat rack too.

Agreed. The Ravens are playing this smart. Unfortunately Lamar’s feelings are in the way.

**The Excellector** · 03-24-2023, 11:26 AM

Jeff Darlington: "It's uncomfortable and gross the way they're trying to paint Lamar Jackson."

**ShadeRaven** · 03-24-2023, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by The Excellector

For all of the talk about us not being the Browns, and us not making decisions like some of the poorly run teams, Jeff Darlington makes, in my opinion, a rather good point. He says that the Ravens have never been followers. Yet, all of a sudden, they're relying on other teams to affirm that they should give Lamar Jackson a better offer. The conversation started around Ozzie's comments and Chris Canty threw it to Darlington that maybe they are seeking that affirmation from other teams, before giving Lamar a certain deal. This was Darlington's response:

"I guess I'm thinking out loud here, because again, you (Chris Canty) sort of changed my mind that maybe that's what Ozzie Newsome is talking about here. I would just say though, Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens have never been, like, followers, in their organizational practices. Like, that's a pretty weak move, if you're waiting on the Bengals, or the Chargers, or the Eagles, to affirm whether you should pay your Quarterback, who's a former MVP by the way. Like, if it comes to the point where we find that out and I'm Lamar Jackson, I'm like 'Oh really? You need THAT guy to validate your decision about me?'

I think its pretty clear to anybody that they never really believed in Lamar Jackson and they are showing him that now. Weather Lamar , who we know is weird, wants to play for the ravens anymore. Even if the other option is quitting football. Is really up to him at this point.

**GOTA** · 03-24-2023, 11:30 AM

Lamar is the one doing this to himself. The entire world has been laughing at Aaron Rodgers for years. This darkness retreat was just the latest in a long line of crazy. Lamar in the past couple of weeks has managed to take the torch from Rodgers. I didn't even think that was possible but Lamar did it. He's now looniest player in the NFL.

Congrats Lamar! You finally managed to turn most of your supporters away from you.

**The Excellector** · 03-24-2023, 11:31 AM

Darlington's point is right. In order for a team to be willing to put forth an offer sheet, Lamar needs to agree to it. Which means he has to talk with them. If those talks go great and he likes the offense more, the WRs more, the play-calling more, the S&C more, etc. he could legitimately go to the Ravens and ask them to not match an offer sheet and if they refuse, he can go public and make this five times messier than it currently is.

**The Excellector** · 03-24-2023, 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by Mmcclend

Agreed. The Ravens are playing this smart. Unfortunately Lamar’s feelings are in the way.

Lamar's feelings are in the way of coming back here, to be our little RB, with a S&C coach who was hired from within and only because a report came out, where we'll still have the worst WR corps in football? And the Ravens are playing this smart? I keep telling you guys not to pay much mind to those social media posts, because we haven't seen full blown pissed off Lamar yet. This can get A LOT messier than it is.

**GOTA** · 03-24-2023, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by The Excellector

Darlington's point is right. In order for a team to be willing to put forth an offer sheet, Lamar needs to agree to it. Which means he has to talk with them. If those talks go great and he likes the offense more, the WRs more, the play-calling more, the S&C more, etc. he could legitimately go to the Ravens and ask them to not match an offer sheet and if they refuse, he can go public and make this five times messier than it currently is.

Just publicly request a trade. Problem solved. No offer sheets. No complications. If he wants out then he has a much simpler way to do it. This isn't hard. Why make things so complicated?

The owners meeting is next week in Arizona. Lamar should get a hotel room wherever they are meeting and say that he will be there all week and will meet with anyone who is interested. The Ravens can then deal directly with any team interested in a trade. No offer sheet. Just a standard trade which gets rid of the whole idea of matching. By this time next week it's done and we can all move on to the draft.

**blah3** · 03-24-2023, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by ShadeRaven

I think its pretty clear to anybody that they never really believed in Lamar Jackson and they are showing him that now. Weather Lamar , who we know is weird, wants to play for the ravens anymore. Even if the other option is quitting football. Is really up to him at this point.

So what exactly have the ravens done to show they don’t believe in lamar? You have complained about speculation from posters, what are you talking about here? All the ravens have said is they want lamar long term , and their actions have backed ip those words.

**ShadeRaven** · 03-24-2023, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by blah3

So what exactly have the ravens done to show they don’t believe in lamar? You have complained about speculation from posters, what are you talking about here? All the ravens have said is they want lamar long term , and their actions have backed ip those words.

Sorry let me clarify they never believed in Lamar as a passer nor do they believe he is really "the guy" like that. They believed he could run greg romans offense and run the ball fine.

Im not saying he is those things but theyve made it more than obvious and Lamar has taken it personally.

**Dirt1** · 03-24-2023, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by GOTA

Just publicly request a trade. Problem solved. No offer sheets. No complications. If he wants out then he has a much simpler way to do it. This isn't hard. Why make things so complicated?

The owners meeting is next week in Arizona. Lamar should get a hotel room wherever they are meeting and say that he will be there all week and will meet with anyone who is interested. The Ravens can then deal directly with any team interested in a trade. No offer sheet. Just a standard trade which gets rid of the whole idea of matching. By this time next week it's done and we can all move on to the draft.

I agree that this is what Lamar should do at this point.