Ravens trading Lamar Jackson would be 'a unique case'

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The Baltimore Ravens still have to figure out a long-term contract extension with Lamar Jackson.

And while that remains unfinished, it at least raises the idea of what it might cost to acquire Jackson in a trade.

The Ravens almost certainly won't look to trade Jackson unless it becomes a last resort. That hasn't stopped ESPN's Bill Barnwell from speculating on the idea in a new article on Thursday.

Barnwell suggests that Jackson would be worth "two first-round picks and more" in a trade to another team.

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He also explains, though, that evaluating Jackson is a bit trickier than many of the top quarterbacks.

"Here's one of the biggest gaps between my own personal evaluation and how other teams seem to feel about a player," Barnwell writes. "I've consistently suggested that Jackson is one of the league's best players when healthy, but the lack of interest in attempting to acquire Jackson when he was available as a franchise player before the 2023 season was also telling."

For comparison, Barnwell assesses Josh Allen as worth seven first-round picks and Drake Maye as worth six first-round picks -- so Jackson is a bunch of steps down from that.

"There will be teams worried about whether Jackson's style of play will lend itself to a quicker aging curve," Barnwell writes. "I'd probably have this somewhere closer to four first-rounders, and I do think somebody would take the plunge if they were confident the Ravens were really willing to move their star quarterback, but Jackson's a unique case."

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Of all the superstar QBs, Jackson feels like the one who might actually have a bit of potential to be traded. The contract negotiations in the meantime with the Ravens won't necessarily be easy, especially because Jackson doesn't have an agent.

Barnwell's article is mostly a thought experiment, but in the next 12-18 months, it could actually apply to Jackson.