Lamar Jackson shows love to Donovan Mitchell after Cavs star advocates for him to get paid

Despite being one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, Lamar Jackson still has an uncertain future. The Baltimore Ravens recently used the non-exclusive franchise tag on him, which means that he is free to negotiate with other teams.

If he were to sign an offer sheet with another team, the Ravens would have the choice to match that offer and bring Jackson back or let him walk for two first-round picks.

Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell recently advocated for Jackson to get paid and wore his Ravens jersey. The two-time Pro Bowler showed him some love in return.

It’s always nice to see athletes from different sports supporting each other. Of course, plenty of people likely aren’t surprised at Mitchell’s display of support for Jackson, given that the two are University of Louisville products. The two stars both played at Louisville from 2015 to 2017 and undoubtedly crossed paths many times on campus.

Jackson seems to still be trying to get his worth in the form of a long-term deal, whether it be from the Ravens or another team in the NFL.

It’s important to note that Baltimore is reportedly confident behind the scenes about its ability to match any offer sheet Jackson receives, so any team pursuing him should have a backup plan in mind.

As for Mitchell, he’s still got some time before he’ll get a new contract, as he has two full seasons left on his current deal (in addition to the current campaign). The New York native also holds a player option for the 2025-26 campaign, but it’s hard to see him picking that up because his $37.1 million salary for that season will surely be pretty low on the totem pole by then.

Right now, Mitchell and the Cavs are more focused on finishing the 2022-23 regular season strong. At this point, it seems like they are virtually locked into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

That would guarantee home-court advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs. The Cavs haven’t been to the playoffs since 2018, the last year of the LeBron James era.

Jackson will surely be paying attention and cheering Mitchell on as the Cavs look to make a deep postseason run.