Lamar Jackson is a young Black man who knows his value

Lamar Jackson is playing his heart out for the Baltimore Ravens and negotiating a contract extension. He is the only starting NFL quarterback to represent himself. The speculation is that Jackson wants the same contract as the Cleveland Browns gave Deshaun Watson. The team is dug in. On Sunday, Jackson led the team on a winning drive with less than two minutes left. Justin Tucker's 43-yard field goal won the game for Baltimore. They are now first in the AFC North. It was their first win in 12 games. John Harbaugh praised Jackson for his running skills. His team won 19-17.

Lamar Jackson wants a big contract from the Ravens. The team wants him to lead them to a title. Lamar Jackson is a young Black quarterback. He is worth the same amount as Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray and Joe Burrow.  The team is betting against Lamar. It wants to give him a contract. They want him in the playoffs. If he doesn't make it, they think he's not worth it. As Harbaugh said Sunday, Lamar is theirs. His agent compared him with Mahome, Allen and Murray. This is not a fair comparison.

Lamar Jackson is a young Black quarterback who knows his value. He wants long-term security and a generational guarantee. The team he plays for is 37-12 in the regular season with Jackson and has been to the playoffs in three of the last four years. Jackson has won MVP and is aiming for the Super Bowl. He is 1-3 in postseason. There are critics and cynics who believe that you can't win a Superbowl with a quarterback like Jackson. Joe Burrow led Cincinnati to a championship last year. His coach, Gary Steinberg, believes that the most important measure of a player's greatness is his ability to take a team to and through the playoff and to win the title.

Lamar Jackson has been MVP and has proved himself worthy of the standard of a franchise quarterback.