Charles Barkley Advises Ravens QB Lamar Jackson: 'You're Playing with Fire, Brother!'

"These dudes, they’re all billionaires,'' Charles Barkley says of the people on the other side of the negotiating table from estranged Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. "They’re not going to let you screw up their business model. You’ve got to take the best deal."

Both as an NBA player and since that time as a bigger-than-life celebrity, Charles Barkley has never had a problem saying what he wants, doing what he wants and "fighting the man.''

But as it regards Lamar Jackson, he is advising the unsigned Baltimore Ravens QB to essentially give up "fighting the man.''

“Lamar, you’re playing with fire, brother,” Barkley said on 850 ESPN Cleveland on Tuesday (ht ProFootballTalk). “You’re going to get burnt.''

A Barkley detractor could respond by insisting he "stay in his lane,'' as his ostensible expertise is in basketball. But the truth is, over the course of a post-NBA career that now spans more than 20 years, Barkley, 60, has made a name for himself by voicing unvarnished truths ... or, at least, unvarnished opinions.

And his point here about Jackson, who is stuck officially with the one-year, $32 million tag proposal from the Ravens (along with, to be fair, talk of Baltimore having discussed monster deals as well) as he watches Jalen Hurts get his five-year $255 million extension with $179 million guaranteed?

"These dudes, they’re all billionaires,'' Barkley said of the people on the other side of the Jackson negotiating table. "They’re not going to let you screw up their business model. You’ve got to take the best deal."

In a "fair'' world, should a Jackson deal exceed a Hurts deal? Maybe; that's part of the ongoing conversation - and the ongoing frustration. But Barkley's central point is an indisputable one: Sometimes, negotiations and contracts and compromises aren't "fair.''

It remains to be seen if he gets closer to signing a deal over the next several weeks. 

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