Lamar Jackson's future central theme at Ravens' end-of-season press conference
Owings Mills, Md. -- The Baltimore Ravens held an end-of-the-season press conference with Executive Vice President/General Manager Eric DeCosta and Head Coach John Harbaugh on Thursday.
The central message of the nearly 45-minute press conference was that the franchise loves Lamar Jackson and expects him to sign a long-term contract with the team.
"I truly believe Lamar wants to finish his career in Baltimore," DeCosta said. "I just believe that in my conversations with him and just watching him, talking with him and communicating. I think John feels that way too. So, all of those things kind of work together for me that tell me we still have a chance and that I should be as optimistic as possible."
Jackson just finished the final year of his contract and is set to become a free agent for the first time in his career unless the team places the franchise tag on the quarterback.
Head Coach John Harbaugh said he shares DeCosta's feeling that Jackson will be in Baltimore for a long time.
The love for Lamar is multi layered.
— Mark Viviano (@MarkWJZ) January 19, 2023
1) He’s genuinely their guy & will be richly rewarded for a lifetime as a Raven
2) Other teams need to know how great he is as a person & a player in case there’s no deal & a trade must be pursued.
🏈 @wjz @WJZ13sports https://t.co/0xKkf1UtHD
" Lamar Jackson is our quarterback; he's been our quarterback," Harbaugh said. "Everything we've done in terms of building our offense and building our team, how we think in terms of people and putting people around him is based on this incredible young man, his talent, his ability and his competitiveness."
Harbaugh also discussed the departure of Greg Roman, who had been the Ravens offensive coordinator for the last four seasons.
Roman's tenure saw the Ravens rushing attack reach historic levels.
Harbaugh said he appreciated his time with Roman.
"The things he accomplished here were pretty historical; there were records set here in the National Football League that are going to stand for a long, long time," Harbaugh said. "So, we're all really proud of those things. Greg's a great coach, and he did the best he could every single week, every single day."
Harbaugh added that Lamar Jackson will be involved in the team's search for a new offensive coordinator.