The last time Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, and Lamar Jackson played at least 14 games in the same regular season was in 2019. At the season's end, Jackson finished the year with more touchdown passes and a higher passer rating than his two contemporaries in the AFC. He also put the finishing touches on a sensational MVP campaign with the Baltimore Ravens.
The following season, Patrick Mahomes signed a 10-year $450 million contract extension with the Kansas City Chiefs, making him the highest-paid player in the National Football League. Two years later, Deshaun Watson inked a five-year deal with the Cleveland Browns worth $230 million upon being traded from the Houston Texans. These contracts helped reshape the free agency market for quarterbacks league-wide, but the most impactful components of these transactions proved to be the amount of money guaranteed. The contract between the Chiefs and Mahomes (two-time MVP & two-time Super Bowl Champion) included a guarantee of $63 million. While all $230 million of Watson's deal with the Browns was fully guaranteed.
Many NFL owners and insiders view that aspect of Watson's deal as an outlier. However, according to Ian Rapoport at the NFL Network, Lamar Jackson, a free agent who's younger and far more accomplished than Watson, wants a similarly structured deal to re-sign with the Ravens. As contract talks between Jackson and the Ravens continue to stall, many have outlined the fact that the 26-year-old has opted not to hire a reputable sports agent to negotiate on his behalf. Instead, his mother/manager, Felicia Jackson, has assumed the role in an effort to help the star quarterback land the lucrative long-term deal that he is seeking.
Bomani Jones of ESPN recently weighed in on the matter during a segment of his podcast, The Right Time with Bohami Jones. The outspoken TV personality and journalist shared his thoughts on Lamar Jackson's highly publicized contractual stalemate with one of the show's contributors, Domonique Foxworth. The two spoke about the pros and cons of a high-profile athlete hiring a sports agent before Bomani suggested that Lamar Jackson acquire the services of Deshaun Watson's sports agent, David Mulugheta.
"I don't understand how everybody did not line up to hire Mulugheta after he pulled that magic trick off with Deshaun Watson," Bomani Jones said. "I'm sorry if I'm Lamar [and] I want the Deshaun Watson contract, I might just call up Mulugheta right now...There's a fair question to be asked just how much of it had to do with Mulugheta, and that's not to say he had nothing to do with it. But he had somebody froggy on the other line, and that helps. But that would be the guy that I would be calling."
Although Lamar Jackson recently went public with his trade request from the Baltimore Ravens, the franchise has maintained its intent to retain the only regular-season MVP they have ever drafted.
To listen to Bomani Jones' suggestion about Lamar Jackon's free-agency status, scroll up and skip ahead to the 15:08 mark.
Source: YouTube
