Just as contract talks between Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are ongoing, the NFL may have given its star quarterback a slight boost. With the NFL continuing to expand globally, the Ravens are now scheduled to play in one of Lamar Jackson’s long-awaited destinations. It is not a direct move tied to negotiations, but it does line up nicely with what the former MVP has wanted for a while.
“Man, that’s dope,” Jackson said, per video posted by a fan account, JacksonMuse. “It’s a blessing for people in Brazil to know who I am, that’s just dope, that’s crazy. I got to go to Brazil one time. I got to travel to Brazil once.”
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Jackson has talked about wanting to travel to Brazil, and it looks like that wish might finally come true. The Baltimore Ravens are set to face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 of the 2026 season in Rio de Janeiro, according to a report from The Baltimore Banner.
The NFL has clearly been growing its presence in Brazil. It hosted Week 1 games there in both 2024 and 2025, and the league said in February that there are more than 36 million NFL fans in the country.
Now, this upcoming matchup will be the third game played there and the first one held at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Cowboys will be the designated home team, and it will also be their first international game since 2014.
The previous two games were played in São Paulo, Brazil, and were close ones. The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Green Bay Packers (34-29) in Week 1 of the 2024 season, and the Los Angeles Chargers edged the Kansas City Chiefs (27-21) in September 2025.
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The Ravens have some experience playing internationally, though both of their previous games were in London. They lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars 44-7 in 2017 and later beat the Tennessee Titans 24-16 in 2023.
According to the Banner, the Ravens were unlikely to host an international game this year because of a nearly $500 million renovation project at M&T Bank Stadium. The report also noted that the NFL allows teams to keep all their home games while their stadium is being renovated.
The exact date and time for the Brazil game have not been announced yet, but it could leave the Cowboys dealing with a short week, depending on how the schedule lines up. The full 2026 schedule is expected to be released in May.
While this update lines up with Jackson’s wish to play in Brazil, questions about his contract extension are still there, especially with the new head coach not giving a clear answer on the situation.
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Jesse Minter shuts down Lamar Jackson’s deal talk
Lamar Jackson signed a five-year, $260 million extension with Baltimore in 2023 that runs through the 2027 season, but there is already some quiet talk about another deal, even though nothing serious has come out yet. When asked about it, head coach Jesse Minter did not say much.
“Yeah, Lamar knows how the organization feels about him; we know how he feels about us,” Minter said on NFL Live. “We think in due time that that’ll all work itself out.”
It sounds like both sides are calm and not rushing anything. Jackson was the 32nd overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft and has already proven himself with two MVP awards and four Pro Bowl selections.
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His 2024 season was outstanding. He played all 17 games and recorded 4,172 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, and a 119.6 passer rating. In 2025, his numbers dropped.
He played 13 games and finished with 2,549 yards, 21 touchdowns, and a 103.8 rating, including a career-low 349 rushing yards. Injuries and illness explain the drop, but the team wants its starting quarterback to be more explosive.
Jackson struggled in November and December when he was not practicing as much. He missed six straight weeks because of knee, ankle, and toe injuries. He even left a prime-time Patriots game with a back contusion and was ruled out for Week 17 against the Packers due to a deep tissue bruise. He also missed his practice time due to illness.
Right now, it feels like the team is staying patient before finalizing a new deal, viewing 2025 as a temporary setback rather than anything long-term.