Every offseason cycle now comes with the same Lamar Jackson contract update: DeCosta says he's optimistic, DeCosta says nothing else, and everyone waits. This time it's happening in real time, with the GM telling reporters he's 'optimistic' about getting an extension done with Jackson before March arrives.
Eric DeCosta said he’s “optimistic” about reaching a contract extension with Lamar Jackson. “We would love to get a deal done as soon as possible.”
That March target matters. Jackson's current deal, the 5-year, $260 million contract he signed back in 2023, runs through the 2027 season, so an extension now would be about getting ahead of it rather than putting out a fire. Notably, Jackson negotiated that deal himself without an agent, and by the sound of it, he's doing the same thing this time around, sitting across from DeCosta directly instead of routing everything through a rep.
But don't expect any leaks along the way. DeCosta made clear he and Jackson have a standing understanding to keep the negotiation out of the press, the same approach that got them to the finish line on the 2023 deal.
DeCosta, however, declined to provide any updates on negotiations, saying he has a pact with Jackson to keep things out of the media.
That silence is basically the whole story here. Jackson's 2023 deal made him the NFL's highest-paid player at the time, with $185 million guaranteed and a no-franchise-tag clause built in for after it expires. Whatever comes next will almost certainly reset the market again, given where quarterback contracts have gone since then. But with both sides committed to a media blackout, fans are left with the same three words on loop: 'we're optimistic.'
For now, the update is more a temperature check than actual news, and the wire is treating it that way too.
Eric DeCosta “optimistic” about a deal for Lamar Jackson before March. t.co/tIlco39YwE
The real deadline that matters here isn't March on a calendar so much as it is the start of the 2027 league year, when Jackson's current deal would otherwise be ticking toward its final season. Baltimore has every incentive to get ahead of that now, both for cap flexibility and to avoid a repeat of the drawn-out standoff that defined the run-up to the 2023 deal. Until then, expect more of the same: brief 'optimistic' soundbites, zero details, and a fanbase reading tea leaves off every DeCosta press conference.