INDIANAPOLIS — Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said Tuesday that he is “confident” that the team will be able to work out a contract extension with two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Jackson, 29, has two years remaining on his current deal but is due to carry a prohibitive $74.5 million salary cap hit each of the next two seasons when the new league year opens March 11. An extension or adding void years to his current contract would lessen that hit significantly for Baltimore, which is also trying to re-sign center and impending free agent Tyler Linderbaum to a long-term, “market-setting” contract that it has offered to the three-time Pro Bowl selection.

DeCosta also said that he has spoken with the often elusive Jackson on multiple occasions in recent weeks, though he declined to provide specifics of their talks.

“Lamar and I have an agreement,” he said from the NFL scouting combine. “We handle business kind of in-house, internally. That worked well for us the last time, and we will continue to have that policy moving forward.”

The last time the Ravens and Jackson, who does not have an agent, were in negotiations, talks dragged on for two years and included a trade request from the star before the two sides reached agreement on a five-year, $260 million contract hours ahead of the start of the 2023 NFL draft. That deal, at the time, made Jackson the highest-paid player in the sport.

It is expected that he will get top money again this time around.

A new deal would also free up around $30 million in cap space and keep Jackson in Baltimore for at least another few years.

Though the clock is ticking on the start of the new league year, DeCosta also said that he does not expect the looming deadline to impede the organization’s ability to make other moves.

“We never have as much cap room as we like to have,” he said. “But we feel like we can start at the beginning of the new league year to conduct business.”

At the top of the list, of course, is signing Jackson to an extension, something that owner Steve Bisciotti said last month is a priority.

“We want another window, and Lamar knows that,” Bisciotti said. “I think that he’s amenable to doing something that mirrors the last deal he did, although the annual number will be a little higher. But I’m hoping that it’s plug a new number in the same contract he signed last year and move on.”

If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, the team can restructure Jackson’s current contract. Though that is not the preferred route, converting much of his $51.2 million salary into a signing bonus would free up necessary space, though that would increase his cap hit for 2027.

Currently, Baltimore has about $13 million in effective cap space.

Jackson is also coming off the worst season of his career and missed four games because of injuries.

The disappointing 8-9 season led to coach John Harbaugh being fired after 18 seasons and Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator and former Baltimore assistant Jesse Minter being hired. Jackson also spent more than an hour on a video call with new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, and DeCosta said that he has spoken with the quarterback about “a lot of different things” of late.

“He’s been very engaged,” DeCosta said. “He was a big value to us in the coaching search.”

Minter added that he and Jackson have been in contact since being hired, though he did not elaborate.

“I think Lamar and I’s relationship, I’ll probably try to keep pretty private, but it is always ongoing and always trying to be in communication,” he said. “Like I said at the very beginning, it takes time to build the trust and the communication and the openness that you really want to create with all the players. So, I am always working towards that, but I love to see him put in the work.”

Asked if he also prefers that Jackson be at voluntary organized team activities later this offseason after Doyle said recently that championship expectations essentially means championship attendance for the voluntary practices, DeCosta said that he isn’t concerned.

“I think he knows what it takes to get ready for the grind of the NFL season,” he said. “He’s proven he can do it at a very, very high level.”

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