Scouting quarterbacks every year is standard NFL practice. What is not standard is a franchise with a two-time MVP under center doing more intensive pre-draft work on signal-callers than almost any other team in the league.

That is precisely what happened in Baltimore heading into the 2026 NFL Draft, with Lamar Jackson still on the roster, according to Sports Illustrated's Jason La Canfora, who cited a sitting NFL general manager.

 "I'll tell you this, they did a lot of work on quarterbacks, a lot of work," the NFL general manager told La Canfora. 

The source (unnamed GM) identified specific teams and prospects tied to the scouting reports.

"The two teams that quietly did the most work on quarterbacks who already have franchise quarterbacks — and I'm not talking about day three kids, this is [Drew] Allar and [Carson] Beck and [Taylen] Green — I'm telling you it was Baltimore and Philly," said the GM to Jason La Canfora.

Front offices have observed that Baltimore designed Jackson's contract in a way that enables his trade at any time without difficulty.

According to NBC's Pro Football Talk, the Ravens failed to get Lamar Jackson signed to a long-term extension. Owner Steve Bisciotti had flagged the urgency in January, GM Eric DeCosta called himself "confident" a deal was coming, and neither of those assurances amounted to anything.

DeCosta admitted the two sides "kind of ran out of time," forcing the Ravens to restructure rather than extend. That stalled negotiation is what makes the quarterback scouting newsworthy rather than routine.

The current contract structure enables the front office to pursue high-level quarterback depth beyond standard backups.

Ravens' Lamar Jackson Restructure Puts the League on Notice

Baltimore converted nearly $50 million of Jackson's base salary into a signing bonus in March 2026, which reduced his 2026 cap hit from $74.5 million to $34.54 million.

This move made him one of the most financially accessible franchise quarterbacks in recent NFL history. 

One GM told SI that the Ravens could move Jackson "tomorrow if they had to," which was a striking summation of just how neatly the deal had been done.

If Baltimore executes a trade, it will result in $57.5 million of dead money costs, which will increase Jackson's 2027 salary cap charge to approximately $84.5 million under his existing contract terms.

The agents and rival general managers of the league see the restructure as a backup plan that the team will use if extension negotiations fail during the upcoming summer period, according to La Canfora's report from May 2026.

The contract structure has established a necessary decision point that requires the team to choose between extending him with a long-term deal before the next March deadline or dealing with an unmanageable $84.5 million cap charge.

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Written by

Abhay Bharti

Edited by

Rudra Dubey