OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta had already taken four questions related to his star quarterback’s contract when a slight pause prompted his eyes to dart to each side of the assembled media.“Any other questions?” he asked last week.There were. Twenty-two more, to be exact, including a few additional ones on Lamar Jackson. It was fitting that DeCosta’s annual post-cutdown day news conference started with questions about Jackson and ended with one, too.DeCosta was asked six total questions about Jackson. His responses totaled 154 words, and 47 of those — more than 30 percent — were spent reminding everyone he would not publicly discuss the negotiations.To put that into perspective, DeCosta was asked one question about last week’s trade of C.J. Okoye, a backup nose tackle who was likely not going to make the team, to the New York Giants — and his answer ran 787 words.“I’ve said it probably 50 times,” DeCosta said in response to the third query on Jackson. “We are not going to talk about business publicly.”Is anything short of an AFC Championship appearance a failure for Ravens?Robert Mays and Derrik KlassenJackson, 29, will probably issue the same reminder Tuesday when he’s scheduled to speak to reporters. He’s long declined to discuss his contract situation with the media.Unfortunately for both, the questions aren’t going away.A new football season will officially begin for the Ravens on Sunday in Indianapolis, and there is a lot to feel good about. First-year head coach Jesse Minter has brought an open, detail-oriented approach that has quickly resonated with the locker room. There’s confidence that he and Anthony Weaver will fix the defense.First-year Ravens play caller Declan Doyle has the offense believing it will be explosive and efficient. Jackson has shown full buy-in to the new coaching staff and has spoken boldly about the offense’s potential. Pro Bowl defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike is nearing a return, and free-agent acquisition Trey Hendrickson looks healthy and explosive.Yet, one story hovers over the organization and threatens to mar the good vibes. Without a contract agreement over the next five-plus months — and no outward indication that the two sides have made progress — the speculation about Jackson’s future in Baltimore will get louder and louder.“The better he plays, the more people are going to focus on it,” said Joel Corry, a former agent who writes and analyzes contracts and the salary cap for CBS Sports. “If he gets back to doing Lamar things, it’s going to be a major storyline. It’s going to gain traction as we go on.”DeCosta quickly pointed out last week that the Ravens and Jackson have been through this before. He was referring to the tumultuous negotiations in 2022 and 2023 that included a Jackson trade request and months of a standstill, ultimately ending with a five-year, $260 million contract extension on the eve of the 2023 NFL Draft. DeCosta acknowledged after the fact that it was one of the most trying periods of his career.In many ways, the negotiations this time around could be even more difficult — and the stakes are even higher. As much as the Ravens like to talk about how their competitive window always remains open, the conversation changes significantly if Jackson isn’t on the roster and they need to add a starting quarterback.“This should be a dictation, not a negotiation, given how this is set up,” Corry said. “If I were Lamar, I’d say, ‘Here’s what I want. If you are willing to do it, let me know. If you don’t want to, that’s fine, too.’”Under contract through 2027, Jackson has all the leverage. He has a no-franchise-tag clause in his contract, which eliminates one way the Ravens could keep him. He also has a no-trade clause, which means he controls where he could wind up if Baltimore reaches the point where it feels its best option is to trade him.Meanwhile, Jackson’s salary-cap number grows to $84.3 million next year. That number would make it close to impossible for DeCosta to build a playoff-caliber roster around its franchise quarterback. With Jackson under his current deal, the Ravens are projected to be a league-high $41 million over the cap next year.That’s untenable, and something has to give. If Jackson is intent on using his leverage to the fullest, the Ravens have no acceptable recourse except to give the quarterback what he wants or to move on from a two-time league MVP without a backup plan in place. The latter is dubious.“They don’t have any leverage,” Corry said. “Their leverage would come from him having a bad year, and that’s not what they want. They want Lamar to be Lamar, and then they’ll have zero leverage. You’ll have a cap number that you can’t sustain. You can’t franchise him. You need his consent to trade him. Really, Lamar can say, ‘Here’s what I need,’ and what are the Ravens going to do?'”Lamar Jackson is coming off an injury-plagued 2025 season in which he missed four games and had a career-low 349 rushing yards. (Joe Sargent / Getty Images)To be clear, waiting carries some risk for Jackson, too. What if he has a second straight disappointing, injury-plagued year? What if his and the team’s playoff struggles persist?When he was last available for essentially the price of two first-round picks and a landmark contract, he had no suitors around the league. He wouldn’t carry the draft pick compensation this time around unless the Ravens go the trade route, but he’d be even more expensive — and he’ll also be nearly four years older.Meanwhile, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti made clear early in the offseason at the season-ending news conference that the Ravens are prepared and interested in paying Jackson handsomely, and you can bet that DeCosta echoed that sentiment in his talks with Jackson.Yet a deal didn’t get done in time for the Ravens to gain more flexibility ahead of free agency in March, and the team was forced to execute a contract restructure instead. Barring a late-hour development over the next couple of days, an extension won’t be reached before the start of the regular season. With Jackson serving as his own agent, it seems highly unlikely either side would want the distraction of negotiating a deal in-season.Thus, the Ravens are nearing a situation that they don’t want to be in, and there’s perhaps more pressure on Jackson to deliver than ever before.“We have dealt with that distraction before,” DeCosta said last week. “There is only so much we can do.”What isn’t clear is why the Ravens and Jackson have been unable to gain traction in talks. If you take the word of the Ravens’ top decision-makers at news conferences, the holdup is not a reluctance to go all-in on their end. It makes no sense for them to wait, either.As for Jackson, it does make sense to wait. Even if his stated desire to remain in Baltimore is genuine, there’s no reason to believe otherwise.It’s quite possible this was his plan all along as he works toward another groundbreaking deal on his terms. The star-studded 2024 quarterback class, which includes Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Bo Nix, is eligible for extensions after the upcoming season, and Jackson could wait to see if that resets the quarterback market.Waiting another year gives him a chance to see how much he likes playing under Minter and how well the Doyle-led offense suits him. Betting on himself and winning big gives him the best chance to get whatever he wants out of the Ravens, too. And let’s be clear: Jackson has never been shy to bet on himself.Jackson has earned the right to play this out if that’s what he wants. He and his small inner circle have certainly shown over the years that they have a plan. In the meantime, his future in Baltimore will remain the subject of great curiosity and debate, and his weekly performance will be scrutinized for what it could mean going forward.In other words, what’s been billed as a new era in Ravens football will begin with a familiar question and concern.