Mike Florio alleges Lamar Jackson got Colin Kaepernick treatment from NFL owners to avoid paying Deshaun Watson-level money

Lamar Jackson did not hold back on Mike Florio after his Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, contrary to the NBC sportcaster's "disrespectful" prediction.

Florio took to X, formerly Twitter, to apologise for his comments. He then put out this very strong yet sympathetic comparison on Tuesday regarding how the rest of the NFL owners reacted to the quarterback's demands.

Earlier this year, the former NFL MVP held out against his team in protest of the franchise tag, with two options presented to owner Eric DeCosta. He could either give him a fully guaranteed contract a la Deshaun Watson(five-year, $230 million, fully guaranteed) or trade him.

That standoff eventually ended when Jackson accepted a compromise on the eve of the Draft: $260 million over five years, with $135 million guaranteed. At the time it was signed, it was the league's richest contract, including a record-breaking $72.5-million signing bonus.

However, the backlash faced by Browns owner Jimmy Halsam for acceding to Watson's demands meant other owners ensured this did not become a precedent. Florio claims Jackson was "shunned" in a manner similar to Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee during the national anthem in 2017.

Florio wrote(via ProFootballTalk),

"One team after another made it clear they weren’t interested in the man who is now poised to win his second MVP award. Similar to the shunning of Colin Kaepernick, teams whispered false narratives to reporters, in the hopes of covering up the basic reality that owners wanted to stop the practice of giving veteran players five-year fully guaranteed contracts.

"And it worked. The backlash to Browns owner Jimmy Haslam got everyone else in line."

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Analyst discusses Lamar Jackson's MVP form as Ravens near AFC's top seed

The aforementioned contract has apparently reinvigorated the Ravens' Lamar Jackson era. However, even then, he had been playing like an MVP candidate, being much more efficient with his passes than before while not sacrificing his rushing prowess.

And Yahoo's Charles McDonald sees it as the key reason why he should now be the frontrunner:

"His overall statistical profile isn’t as dominant as it was in 2019, but his importance to the Ravens’ offense is incredibly apparent during the games."

"Jackson is the singular force that's allowed the Ravens to become one of the best offenses in the league. He operates on a plane that few quarterbacks do."

FanDuel's odds currently have Lamar Jackson as the only MVP candidate in the minus range, at -170. Christian McCaffrey is his new closest rival at +450, after Brock Purdy's four interceptions dropped him to +1300.