The Patriots can make a move for Lamar Jackson now

The New England Patriots could make a move for Lamar Jackson now that the Ravens have placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on the former MVP.

A Lamar Jackson trade could actually be happening, and I’d say it’s more likely than not at this point.  Basically, the non-exclusive franchise tag allows the tagged player to negotiate and an offer sheet with another team.

The Ravens would then have to decide if they want to match that offer sheet to keep Jackson in purple or decline matching the sheet.  In that case, the other club involved would send their 2023 and 2024 first round picks to the Ravens to be able to finalize the deal with Lamar Jackson.

Apparently, there are already a handful of teams who aren’t planning on pursing Jackson, which I don’t buy.

This seems like it’s being purposely done by these teams, perhaps to prevent Jackson from inking a fully guaranteed contract, as there is absolutely no reason why those teams specifically shouldn’t be pursuing Jackson.

I do think there is something else afoot, but if those clubs genuinely do not want to pursue the 2019 MVP, the Patriots might have a clear path to go get the elite player.

This would be such a Bill Belichick move, too.  When no one is expecting it, he pounces, and honestly, there is no reason why the Patriots should not offer him a deal.  It’s unknown what the Pats think about Jackson at this point and if they’d be willing to offer him a fully guaranteed contract, but I’m sure they’ll sniff around.

Coupling a Lamar Jackson led offense in New England with at least a top 10 defense would be devastating for other teams, to say the least.

The Pats would then have to figure out what they’d do with Mac Jones, and a trade to the Las Vegas Raiders in this specific situation would seem likely.

The team likely wouldn’t get much at all for Jones if they went through with trying to bring Lamar to Gillette Stadium.

However, the potential success with Lamar Jackson on the Patriots is encouraging.