Signing of Jacoby Brissett likely takes Commanders out of play for Lamar Jackson

Posted by Mike Florio on March 16, 2023, 11:19 AM EDT
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The Commanders have added veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Given the presence of second-year QB1 (for now) Sam Howell, the move presumably takes them out of play for Lamar Jackson.

Brissett’s one-year deal includes a $4.5 million signing bonus and a $3 million, fully-guaranteed base salary. The contract also includes up to $2 million in playing-time incentives, and a $500,000 workout bonus.

That’s $8 million in base pay. It’s a significant investment for the Commanders. A whopping $8 million for one year. With Howell there, it makes a pursuit of Lamar less likely.

Of course, if the Commanders go after Jackson, it will be something that originates with ownership. If Daniel Snyder wants Lamar, Daniel Snyder will pursue Lamar.

Still, the addition of Brissett makes that harder to do. And it fits with the notion that Howell is the guy, if he can earn the job. If he can’t, Brissett (who has proven to be a more-than-capable backup quarterback) will be ready to take over.

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28 responses to “Signing of Jacoby Brissett likely takes Commanders out of play for Lamar Jackson”

  1. Owners are not going to make fully guaranteed contracts a thing until multiple star QBs fight for their fellow players. And even then Baltimore is not letting Jackson go. He is the closest thing to a one man offense in the NFL. He is stuck there. He would be the first player to get tagged 3 times at least.

  2. Jacoby not only looked but played better than the Browns 250mil QB did. I dont know whats going to be different next year for them. Watson was there in camp, OTA’s then was awful week 11. Now he sat for another whole offseason. The Browns shouldve Kept Jacoby, they are going to need him. The guy is an amazing teammate, guys loved him.

  8. The Ravens are stuck with Lamar. No team is giving up 2 1st round picks for a guy who can’t even throw for 3000 yards in a season. Especially when the team needs to change their entire offense to suit Lamar’s “skill set”.

  9. I think the only thing that takes teams out of hypothetical Jackson pursuit is money. So the Saints, probably the Raiders, have spent enough that it’s pretty certain they’re not going back. But teams that signed QBs for not-huge money, like WFT, Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa, maybe even Miami, are not prohibitively out of the running.

    I suspect that no one at all wants to go anywhere near Jackson’s demands, and won’t even really try, but if the Watson debacle can happen once, it could happen again until things are more settled than they are now.

  12. I really think Lamar is staying in Baltimore. The Ravens are just letting other teams prove to him that nobody will give him a fully guaranteed contract.

  13. If they land Jackson, couldn’t they eventually trade Brissett or Howell to some team that needs him?

  16. mikecrabtreeschain says:
    March 16, 2023 at 11:24 am

    Owners are not going to make fully guaranteed contracts a thing until multiple star QBs fight for their fellow players.

    ===

    I think nothing will hurt their fellow players more than fully-guaranteed contracts for star QBs. Rigid money locked in one spot reduces options for everyone else and makes all other players more disposable. Now, a star QB who took less guaranteed money on the condition that every other player on the team got more guaranteed money, that could help.

    Guaranteed money *in* contracts makes perfect sense. There should be some baseline security. But fully-guaranteed contracts seem like a non-starter in a sport like this, unless contract lengths drop steeply.

    This would seem to lead to a league full of one-year guaranteed contracts and constant shuffling of players between teams. That will dilute the product and hurt the fan experience, something that’s badly devalued these days. They seem to forget the reason the league exists is entertainment for fans, not satisfying the avaricious egos of players and owners.

  17. wut? I don’t think the Commanders are going after Lamar under any circumstances, but I seriously doubt signing this backup QB has anything to do with it.

  18. kevpft says:
    March 16, 2023 at 12:07 pm

    I think the only thing that takes teams out of hypothetical Jackson pursuit is money. So the Saints, probably the Raiders, have spent enough that it’s pretty certain they’re not going back. But teams that signed QBs for not-huge money, like WFT, Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa, maybe even Miami, are not prohibitively out of the running.

    I suspect that no one at all wants to go anywhere near Jackson’s demands, and won’t even really try, but if the Watson debacle can happen once, it could happen again until things are more settled than they are now.

    ——-

    I disagree with the initial premise. There are 5 teams without a 2023 first round pick, so they are out until after this year’s draft. I also think that there were teams like KC and CIN that wouldn’t go for LJ even they could easily afford him. When you consider those that like their current QBs, just signed a FA QB (like LV), those that are content to work with their newly drafted QBs, and those that couldn’t afford him, there were really only five teams at the official start of FA that were plausible: NYJ, IND, HOU, WAS, and TB. I think the Jets, Bucs, and now Comms are out, so the “market” for LJ is the Texans and Colts. Granted, about half the NFL could make a play after dramatic overhauls in their rosters and coaching staffs, but that’s just not realistic.

  19. Ya know, the Commander have been really clear about their QB plans. They said they were going to get a cheap vet that can push Howell in camp, and that is exactly what they did. IF they were going to chase Lamar they would not have resigned Daron Payne. To change course now and go after Lamar would require them to cut half the team to create sufficient cap space. I think Ron Rivera has been very clear about his plans.

    BTW, does anyone know if Lamar has FULLY recovered from his injury that caused him to miss the last third of the season and the playoffs, assuming he was “really” injured?

  20. Brissett’s signing has nothing to do with whether Lamar ends up in Washington, only that they’ll have a credible back up their as yet named starter goes down

  21. I know this is tough for a lot of the Ravens fans who comment here. The market has spoken clearly. You refused to acknowledge what many of us have literally been saying for years, but so be it. Nobody is going to pay Lamar anything remotely close to what he’s asking for, or the bounty to get him. He’s just not very good. He’s pure smoke and mirrors and so is the offense you crafted specifically for him. Both fail in the playoffs against good defenses. Fact.

  22. What’s also funny about this whole situation is that it just reminds us of how arrogant Harbaugh is. He really did think Lamar could revolutionize the offense and he went all in on yet another gimmicky, QB run-first-offense that has only been tried a zillion times in the past 50 years of the NFL and it is never sustainable. But at least in years past those QBs could throw the ball (Young, Vick, Cam, Randall, Donovan). Lamar can’t. And yet Harbaugh really thought it would work and now the Raves are hosed, after years of missing the playoffs of going one and done with Lamar at the helm.

  23. You can paint poor Lamar up any way you like: “elite”, “owner collusion” blah blah blah. Bottom line is he was too stupid, cheap, or both to get an agent, saw what the clown Browns gave Watson, and tried to stare down a billionaire owner in Baltimore. He lost. And anyone trying to turn this into ” well, everyone’s just mean because of his race?” That just isn’t true. Jackson’s been a fool, and he’s getting called out on it.

  24. If they were willing to sign a QB then they were never really in-play for Lamar Jackson!

  25. This is just like that childhood game …duck , duck goose. Lamar won’t have a chair to sit in when this is done .

  28. The Commanders have $685,080 of cap space as of today (3/18) according to Over the Cap. They aren’t in any position to make a play for Jackson even if they were interested.

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