The Patriots are Reportedly Out on Lamar Jackson As Well

A report on Monday that rapper Meek Mill let New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft know that Lamar Jackson wants to play for the Patriots sparked 36 hours of Lamar Jackson photo shops in a Patriots uniform.

However, if you were a Patriots fan dreaming of Lamar Jackson under center in 2023, you can forget about it. This is according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic. Howe wrote this morning: “It’s just not going to happen, according to a league source.”

If the Patriots wanted to acquire Jackson, they would have to a) present an offer sheet to Jackson that the QB would approve and then send two first-rounders to New England or b) work out a trade with the Patriots for Jackson. A trade might cost the Patriots even more than the two compensatory first-rounders and still require them to have a contract extension with Jackson.

Either way, the price would be significant. According to Howe, too significant for the Patriots’ tastes.

Following the report that Meek Mill was attempting to broker a deal for Jackson and the Patriots behind the scenes, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that he would leave that decision to GM and head coach Bill Belichick. Belichick told reporters that he would not comment on the Jackson situation.

And now we have word from Howe that the Patriots are out on Jackson. This is not surprising considering the massive cost of acquisition to land the services of the former MVP quarterback. So, we can cross New England off of the list of potential destinations for Jackson.

The Patriots aren’t the first team to bow out of the Lamar Jackson sweepstakes in recent weeks. While it’s understandable, Jackson is taking notes and keeping receipts. Jackson tweeted last night that he “can’t wait to see” these teams that are publicly passing on him this offseason.

The further we get into this process, the more it seems we’re heading for a messy ending in Baltimore. Jackson and the Ravens have until July 17 to work out an extension.

Jackson revealed this week on Twitter that he asked the Ravens for a trade on March 2. We also learned that Jackson wants to move on from Baltimore. Unfortunately, teams balking at the cost to acquire him is not making him more inclined to mend the fences with the Ravens, barring a breakthrough in extension negotiations.

Players like Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, and Jalen Hurts getting extensions in the coming months will only add more fuel to Jackson’s fire. Especially if those deals come near the amount of guaranteed money that he is looking for.