Lamar Jackson fuels Raiders rumors as trade proposal sees Tom Brady send Fernando Mendoza pick to Ravens

Lamar Jackson finds himself at the center of trade speculation following another disappointing season with the Baltimore Ravens.

The two-time MVP struggled to a 6-7 record as starting quarterback in an injury hit campaign, which saw the Ravens miss out on the 2025 NFL Playoffs with a heartbreaking Week 18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Head coach John Harbaugh, who had been in Baltimore since 2008, was fired by the organization for falling short of the Super Bowl once more.

He has since moved on to the New York Giants, while the Ravens have turned to Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to fill their vacancy.

Minter will no doubt be excited about the prospect of working closely with a franchise QB like Jackson, but if rumors are to be believed, they might not link up after all.

Lamar Jackson fuels trade rumors with social media mistake

Jackson has already been touted for a trade, with some fans and analysts alike suggesting he needs to move on from Baltimore to fulfil his true potential.

The Las Vegas Raiders are one team in desperate need of a top quarterback, and while they hold the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, they could look to trade that away for an established star.

Jackson has not suggested that he wants to move on, but did turn heads with a recent X post that further fuelled speculation around his future.

A Ravens fan took to social media to re-share a picture of his son, first posted in 2022, which showed the three-year-old wearing Jackson’s No. 8 jersey while holding a football with the Raiders logo on.

“Is this a good time to point out my (then) 3 year old MAY have predicted the potential move of (Jackson) to the Raiders?” the user, @shantel_jlopez, wrote on X.

The photo, bizarrely, was then re-posted by Jackson himself.

Naturally, plenty of other fans noticed the interaction, and quickly jumped to the worst case scenario.

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“Lamar loves to stir up controversy. Bye,” one wrote, responding directly to the photo, which has been seen more than 550,000 times in the last 12 hours.

“Nah, don’t do me like that,” another begged.

“Lamar, what is this man?” a third questioned.

“Must be contract time. Lamar stirring it up,” a fourth claimed.

Lamar Jackson responds after X post goes viral

There was, however, a simple explanation for Jackson’s re-post.

Having likely seen the backlash, Baltimore’s QB quickly moved to play it off as an innocent mistake.

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X @Lj_era8

“Lol, I just posted the kid in the jersey didn’t even read the caption,” he wrote.

Panic over… or is it?

NFL executives tip Raiders to trade for Jackson

Before the X controversy, ESPN writer Jeremy Fowler published an annual piece that offered league executives, coaches and scouts ‘one bold prediction’ for the upcoming season.

Fowler wrote that ‘multiple people’ he spoke to used their pick to ‘designate Jackson a Raider.’

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“It just seems like there’s been some consternation there with Lamar and the Ravens, and this would be the ultimate Mark Davis move,” one NFL personnel evaluator said.

“I’m not even convinced everybody with Vegas would be on board with it but it would instantly solve their quarterback problems.”

Any trade, no matter how unlikely, would see the Raiders surely send their first overall draft pick, and plenty more, to Baltimore.

Polymarket, a US cryptocurrency-based prediction market, has even outlined an outrageous trade proposal that would see the Ravens get that No. 1 pick (and likely Fernando Mendoza), Las Vegas’ 2027 first rounder, and their 2027 second-round pick, in exchange for Jackson.

That, of course, remains a very ‘bold’ suggestion.

But if Jackson slips up on social media again, the anxiety in Baltimore will only grow.

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