Breaking Point For Steelers AFC North Foe Lamar Jackson Came After 2 Teams Played

Pittsburgh Steelers fans have been sitting back and watching the drama that has been unfolding all over the AFC North this offseason, and no team has had more drama lately than the Baltimore Ravens. The majority of that drama stems from the Ravens quarterback, Lamar Jackson. Jackson, who is entering his sixth year in the NFL, has requested to be traded from Baltimore. 

This bit of chaos has transcended the AFC North and even the NFL as it has made national headlines. It started with a lot of shock and surprise that Baltimore wasn't just quickly willing to hand Jackson bags of money to stay in Charm City. That surprise was quickly replaced by curiosity as rumors started to emerge, and words like collusion were getting tossed about. Jackson represents himself rather than using an agent and that may be adding to the eeriness of the proceedings. 

Jackson, for his part, feels that he is entitled to get paid commensurate with other elite quarterbacks in the NFL. After all, he has set records as a running quarterback, surpassing Michael Vick. When you look at the contracts of Aaron Rodgers at $50.3 million, Russell Wilson at $49 million, Kyler Murray at $46.1 million, and division rival, Deshaun Watson at $46 million, it is easy to see why he feels like he is owed more money than the $32.4 million he's been offered by them. 

Then Jackson asked for a trade and the timing was too perfect to be a coincidence. Just as Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was stepping up to speak to the media in Arizona following the Annual League Meetings, a tweet came out from Jackson.

Did Jackson Mentally Check Out After The Steelers Game?

Now Jackson is popping up again, there are rumors that he might have been mentally "checked out" from Baltimore before the end of the season. 

The Steelers and the Ravens played their two divisional games near the end of the 2022 season, one in December and one on New Year's Day. The Steelers did not have to face Jackson in either game as he sustained a knee injury Week 13 against the Atlanta Falcons. While Ravens fans knew Jackson was going to want to get paid, not many knew that might mark the last time he donned purple and black. 

The first week following the injury, Week 14, they played in Pittsburgh and Jackson traveled with the team. However, for the remaining four games of the season, he was notably absent. While there was talk and speculation about the reason for his absence, no official answer was ever given. 

Now because of all the buzz about contracts and trades, everything Jackson has ever done is being picked apart and analyzed on social media. There have been tweets flying about implying that he was already mentally gone from Baltimore after Week 14. Jackson addressed those rumors on Twitter. 

"After I traveled to the Pittsburgh game, my PCL got inflated so a few of us discussed it and I got the ok to stay so I could try and recover faster."

It is easy to read too much into all of this as we look at it with the benefit of hindsight. Perhaps Jackson saw the writing on the wall and knew he wasn't going to get the offer he wanted in Baltimore. Or maybe he did just have an injury that he did not wish to aggravate. In the big picture, it probably doesn't matter either way. Either the Ravens are going to offer him enough money to keep him or they aren't. 

What do you think about Jackson's tweets? Do you think he was already mentally checked out or do you think it is as simple as an injury? Click to comment below!

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