When the Baltimore Ravens moved on from John Harbaugh after nearly two decades in the big chair, attention turned to who the franchise would select to replace him.

Some thought a young, offensive mind like Kliff Kingsbury would get the most out of Lamar Jackson, while others thought a defensive coach, because, well, it’s Baltimore.

And the franchise landed on stud defensive coordinator Jesse Minter of the Los Angeles Chargers, who will also call the defensive plays.

The move has been met with applause, and for Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr, he’s given the hire an A+ grade.

“By all accounts, Jesse Minter was the crown jewel of this year’s class and the only candidate to have been requested by every single team with an opening,” Orr wrote. “Baltimore clearly had eyes on Minter when the team decided to part ways with John Harbaugh and landed a coach who smashed a home run with his offensive coordinator hire, the Bears’ Declan Doyle, who has been on the fast track for years and spent an instrumental season under Ben Johnson in Chicago.”

More: Why Texans must go all-in on star weapon for C.J. Stroud

Ravens must fix Lamar issue

No, I’m not talking about his missing a day of practice most weeks; I’m talking about his contract.

Set to have a monster $74.5 million cap hit, that isn’t feasible to enter the year with, as it would cripple the Ravens’ ability to bring in more talent in the search for a Super Bowl.

So, for Minter and the Ravens front office, getting Jackson’s contract done before free agency opens on March 11 is an urgent priority.

If they have any hopes of rebounding from the disaster that was the 2025 season, they need cap space to do it. 

And the only way they will is if they extend Jackson and lower his cap number.

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