Why Roquan Smith negotiated his own deal with the Ravens, and what it could mean for Lamar Jackson

In the discussions that led to his new five-year, reported $100 million contract with the Ravens, Roquan Smith represented himself. That’s a familiar arrangement to Ravens fans — since QB Lamar Jackson does not have an agent — but an unorthodox approach in professional sports circles, where certified representatives have long negotiated deals on behalf of players.

Contracts are complicated and full of fine print. Nobody wants to be hoodwinked. Agents handle all of that, but they’ve also been seen as line of defense: They argue with team decision makers about the player’s strengths and weaknesses and how much he should be paid.

That has allowed players to stay somewhat above the fray, maintaining working relationships without the entanglements of a potentially contentious negotiation.

But Smith, a 25-year old originally from rural Georgia and affectionately known by Ravens teammates as “Uncle Ro” for his wisdom beyond his years, preferred to do things himself while consulting trusted advisors privately.

The end result?

Everything he and the Ravens wanted.

For Smith, that was top dollar for his position: $20 million per year. For the Ravens, it was a long-term agreement intended to keep Smith, the NFL’s third-leading tackler, as the defensive centerpiece in Baltimore for years to come.

The deal also has implications beyond the linebacker position. Coming amid the context of Jackson’s long-term contract uncertainty (not to mention health status), it also shows Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta is willing to negotiate directly with prized talent and can successfully reach an agreement — which he and Jackson couldn’t do before this season.

Smith, who was drafted in the first round the same year as Jackson and has been playing out the final year of his rookie contract, described DeCosta as a “very fair, honest guy” during the negotiations, which began in mid-December.

“Nowadays, players want to be at the table for 100% transparency,” Smith said, speaking to reporters Wednesday after the deal was officially announced, “and I think if you’ll be there and you have respect for the guy you’re talking with and you have help from your advisors and things like that, there aren’t things you can’t do.”

It didn’t take very long for the deal to get done, just a handful of days in all. Starting last month, Smith visited DeCosta in the GM’s office at the team headquarters in Owings Mills on off days from the Ravens’ regular practice and meeting routine — usually Mondays and at least part of Tuesday.

“We sat down a couple times,” Smith said. “You can find time for those things. That’s all part of the business, and that’s something I took upon myself.”

Smith and DeCosta emailed back and forth, too, and ultimately hashed out the details. The Ravens didn’t disclose the terms, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Smith is getting $45 million guaranteed.

It’s a fair deal, Smith said, which is all one of the NFL’s leading tacklers desired, dating back to his time with the Bears, who drafted Smith out of the University of Georgia five years ago. Smith attempted to work out a deal in Chicago. He ended up holding out in training camp twice, and grew to distrust the team’s general manager, Ryan Poles.

That wasn’t the case after the Ravens acquired Smith at the trade deadline at the end of October.

“When I first got here, just being around teammates, the coaching staff, everyone ... how they made me feel so welcomed once I first got here, and it felt like home right away,” Smith said. “When you feel like that, it’s like, ‘Man, I want to be here for the long haul and make a positive impact.’”

He made an immediate impact and endeared himself to a defense already filled with stars.

“He will tell you to do your job, and he will make fun of you when you’re complaining,” veteran defensive back Marlon Humphrey said last month, right around when negotiations began. “We call him ‘Uncle Ro.’ He’s got a very old soul, plays his country tunes, runs to the ball. He eats the same breakfast every morning. I watch him.”

After the trade, in nine games, the Ravens allowed the NFL’s second-fewest points (14.7) and held teams to the third-fewest yards (289). In the Ravens’ first eight games, the defense allowed almost 23 points per game and ranked 24th in yards allowed with (364). In particular, the acquisition of Smith took pressure off fellow linebacker Patrick Queen and allowed the entire defense more flexibility.

Smith said he entered the talks wanting nothing less than to become the league’s highest-paid player at his off-ball linebacker position. He also said it wasn’t an “easy process” but that he “never wavered,” either. With interest on both sides, stemming from Smith’s obvious skills, quick acclimation to Baltimore, and reputation among many teammates and team staff, things moved quickly.

“A lot of times, people say players can’t negotiate without agents, and that’s not something I truly believe in, because talking with Eric throughout the process, he was honest, kept his word,” Smith said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him, and I can’t thank him enough for actually being fair, seeing the value in me, making this happen. I’m just extremely excited to be here and call this place home and to be rocking out with my GM.”

Smith, picked to the Pro Bowl this year, said he might have been able to get a more lucrative contract had he become a free agent after the season, “but I’m happy where I’m at and I want to be on a team that has a chance to compete year in and year out to hoist the Lombardi,” he said. “I knew this place was a place where I can do that year in and year out.”

Humphrey praised the deal.

Rookie defensive back Kyle Hamilton is a fan, too, telling The Baltimore Banner: “I’m happy for him. We all want to be able to take care of our families and our future selves, and he’s done that. It’s a pinnacle we all want to reach, but at the same time we’re trying to win a Super Bowl as well, and he’s as much ready to win a Super Bowl as he is to sign a contract. It’s good to see a guy get paid and see him still locked in what we’re doing.”

The elephant in the room, though, is what this means about the discussion around Jackson’s future with the Ravens. He and the team couldn’t reach a long-term contract agreement this offseason as Jackson wanted the kind of rare fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million deal the Cleveland Browns gave embattled quarterback Deshaun Watson in March. (He went on the record saying he turned down between $160 and $180 million, but has otherwise said little publicly about the negotiations.)

Since then, though, several other high-profile NFL quarterbacks, such as Denver Broncos veteran Russell Wilson, the Las Vegas Raiders’ Derek Carr, Arizona’s Kyler Murray and Super Bowl winner Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, have inked more typical partially guaranteed contracts, and in August DeCosta said he and Jackson would renew talks after this season ended. The Ravens could also simply franchise-tag Jackson. The franchise tag is an NFL convention that allows a team to pay a pending free agent a going rate for the top players at their position in a guaranteed one-year contract in lieu of reaching a new contract independently.

Speaking in the afterglow of the official news of his new contract in front of television cameras and reporters at the team’s facility, Smith suggested more players might want to follow his lead and be in the room when their value is discussed. There is least one other on the Ravens’ roster — Jackson — who agrees wholeheartedly. The quarterback reacted positively to Smith’s deal on Twitter.

Corey McLaughlin is a veteran writer and editor who has covered sports in Baltimore for a decade, including for Baltimore magazine, USA Lacrosse Magazine and several other publications.

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