The honeymoon phase for Baltimore Ravens fans has hit a wall after star quarterback Lamar Jackson revealed that he wanted out of the organization, and the New England Patriots seem to be one of his preferred destinations.
That is at least according to Philadelphia-born rapper Meek Mill who apparently told Patriots owner Robert Kraft a couple of days ago that Jackson “wants to be a Patriot”, as initially disclosed on Twitter.
“Meek Mill texted and said, ‘Lamar Jackson wants to come to the Patriots.’ I said, ‘That’s Bill Belichick’s decision,’” Kraft was quoted to have told reporters during a media session conducted earlier today.
At first glance, one would wonder how a billionaire like Kraft and a rapper like Mill could have such a personal friendship, but fans of the music industry would remember that the former played a huge role in getting the latter out of prison.
In November 2017, Mill was sentenced to two to four years in prison for violating parole related to two arrests: one for his March 2017 incident that involved him assaulting two employees of the St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri and his August 2017 arrest in New York City due to a noise complaint.
During his time in prison, Kraft visited him and became one of his advocates for his release which happened on April 17, 2018, and Mill became an advocate of criminal justice in the country.
This led to the launch of the Reform Alliance where Kraft and Mill, joined by names such as Philadelphia 76ers owner Michael Rubin and Brooklyn Nets co-owner Clara Wu Tsai, sought to “transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems, and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing.”
With their short history out of the way, Jackson revealing his trade request also came at a conspicuous time as Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was about to do a press conference.
This does put a massive question mark above the head of Mac Jones.
Jones has been the leading man in New England since beating out Cam Newton for the starting role in 2021 and while confidence about his abilities is high among the fanbase, the sudden availability of Jackson does put into question whether they should do it.
There are a lot of moving parts in the ongoing saga of Jackson’s free agency and the fanbase has been split on social media for the better part of it, with many blaming his lack of an agent (Jackson represents himself in negotiations) for the stalled talks.
At the same time, there is a possibility that the two sides can still come together and sort it out.
All in all, it has been a messy offseason for the Ravens and Jackson, but now with the Patriots seemingly in the mix, the situation has become a lot more interesting overall.
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