Ravens' Lamar Jackson Franchise Tag: Exclusive or Non-Exclusive?

The Baltimore Ravens are almost certainly going to use the franchise tag on quarterback Lamar Jackson - but will it be the exclusive or non-exclusive?

The window to utilize the franchise tag is officially open Tuesday for teams around the NFL - and it's particularly important to the Baltimore Ravens' contract negotiations with quarterback Lamar Jackson.

The question surrounding Jackson and the Ravens when it comes to the franchise tag isn't necessarily if or even when - it's which one?

Largely a foregone conclusion that Baltimore will use the tag on Jackson, the next matter of business is determining whether to employ the exclusive or non-exclusive tag.

So, what's the difference?

The exclusive tag prohibits players from negotiating with other teams and grants them a salary equal to the average of the top-five highest-paid players at their position.

The non-exclusive tag lets players negotiate around the league, but the tagging team has the right to either match the offer or receive two first-round draft picks in return.

In theory, the exclusive tag is the easiest - and safest - approach to retaining Jackson ... but there's a hangup, as Sports Illustrated noted in a recent column.

So why wouldn’t the Ravens just put the exclusive tag on him? Mostly because it would make a contract harder to negotiate. Your starting point, off that tag, would have to be a two-year guarantee of over $100 million (the sum of two exclusive franchise tags), because that’s the route you’d have to persuade Jackson not to take.

And even then, he’d have the option to not sign it, with no penalty for not showing up until September (when he’d start losing game checks off that tag)."" - Albert Breer

As a contrast to the pricy exclusive tag that's currently valued at $45 million, the non-exclusive tag is a much cheaper $32.4 million - and Pro Football Talk believes this is ultimately the approach Baltimore will take.

"Our current guess is that, unless the exclusive franchise tender dips below $40 million, the Ravens will be inclined to go the non-exclusive route.

In lieu of waiting for someone who drafts lower in round one signing Jackson to an offer sheet (or having him sign an offer sheet after the 2023 draft, putting 2024 and 2025 first-round picks in play), the Ravens could accept a top-10 pick and maybe a second-rounder or a third-rounder in 2023, or perhaps a conditional pick in 2024 based on Jackson's playing time in 2023." - Mike Florio

Nonetheless, both NFL Network and ESPN have endorsed the exclusive franchise tag, with the latter saying on "NFL Live" that the Ravens can "kiss Lamar Jackson goodbye" if they use the non-exclusive tag.

In essence, it comes down to how much the Ravens are willing to pay and how much risk they'll take - which may go hand-in-hand.

Baltimore officially has two weeks to make a decision, as the franchise tag window closes on March 7. ... and the final answer could very well determine whether or not Jackson will be a Raven for years to come.

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You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter at @DFlickDraft

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