The Baltimore Ravens made waves recently when they applied the non-exclusive franchise tag to Lamar Jackson. This means that Jackson can test free agency and try to get a deal, but the Ravens can match it. If they do not, they will get two first-round picks back. You may be wondering how this could impact the Chicago Bears.
Considering they are not going to trade Justin Fields, they will not even be a team leaked to Jackson. However, because the quarterback market starts with the number one overall pick, this situation definitely does impact the team.
Will Lamar Jackson hurt the Chicgao Bears leverage to trade the number one overall pick?
The reality is that team will now be weighing the idea of trading for Lamar Jackson, who is a proven star with injury questions, or trading up for a rookie, who has questionable talents, but is much cheaper and younger than Jackson.
For the Ravens, you have to trade two first round picks, but Ryan Poles made it sound like it would cost three first-round picks for some teams to move up to number one overall.
For the Indianapolis Colts, they may only throw one future first to move up to one. Still, since they are trading their pick this year, and the future first, it is two firsts they are sending, as they are taking a QB with one of those firsts. The same logic can be applied to Jackson, it is one first to technically make him your pick this year, then one extra first-round pick.
However, if that is what it costs for the Colts to get from four to one, it will actually cost a lot more for teams like the Raiders, Falcons, and Panthers. These teams are currently out on Lamar Jackson, probably because they want to see how the draft plays out.
However, if two or three quarterbacks are gone in the top six picks, they may be regretting this.
If Ryan Poles wants the ninth pick this year, 2024 first, and 2025 first for the number overall pick, but all it costs is the ninth pick this year, and 2024 first for Lamar Jackson, it makes sense why a team would rather pay Lamar Jackson the money, and take the bet on the injury risk. The unproven rookie brings as many questions.
It will be interesting to see if teams pivot after seeing what the Chicago Bears want for the top pick. Right now the Lamar Jackson market is cold and the number one pick is hot. Does that stay the same, or does the price peak, and teams pivot to Jackson for fewer draft picks?