Lamar Jackson Wins Second AP NFL MVP

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson won his second Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award at the 13th annual NFL Honors award show on Thursday (February 8) night.

Jackson, 26, led the Ravens to a 13-3 record, clinching the No. 1 seed in the AFC before being eliminated in the AFC Championship Game. The former Heisman Trophy winner threw for a career-best 3,678 yards -- 551 more than his 2019 MVP season -- and 24 touchdowns on 307 of 457 passing -- a career-best 67.2% completion rate -- as well as 821 yards and five touchdowns on 148 rushing attempts.

Jackson's second MVP season followed an offseason in which the Ravens initially placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson after the two sides previously failed to reach an agreement on a long-term contract prior to the franchise tag deadline. A non-exclusive franchise tag allowed Baltimore to either match another team's offer to sign Jackson or receive trade compensation.

Jackson announced that he had requested a trade in March after the Ravens had "not been interested in meeting my value" during negotiations on a long-term deal and later decided to instead place a $32.4 million non-exclusive franchise tag on him. The two sides eventually agreed on a five-year, $260 million deal which was, at the time, the largest contract in NFL history.