Ravens Rookie Ja'Kobi Lane Skips Nike Money, Bets on Baltimore Cleat Startup

Ja'Kobi Lane had offers from Nike and Adidas to become a paid brand ambassador. Instead, the Baltimore Ravens rookie wide receiver put a portion of his rookie salary into a small Baltimore-based cleat company called Caddix, becoming the first active Ravens player to hold a stake in the business.

Caddix announced the investment deal on Tuesday, according to The Baltimore Banner. Lane, drafted 80th overall out of USC in the third round, said it was crazy how his relationship with the company ultimately led him to invest in it, per the same report. Caddix, founded by Jack Rasmussen, was designed around technology meant to limit lower-body injuries, and it does not pay athletes to wear its cleats.

Lane's connection to the brand traces back to a broken foot he suffered in May 2025, the outlet reports. He later wore Caddix's black-and-white O.G. low-cut cleats during wide receiver position drills and said the shoes placed less pressure on his knees and ankles after workouts, though he wore Nike Vapor Edge cleats for the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, where he measured 6-foot-4 with 10.5-inch hands and a 40-inch vertical, according to Heavy Sports.

Todd Heap's Role in Bringing Lane Aboard

Retired Ravens tight end Todd Heap, who invested in Caddix and sits on its advisory board, spent roughly four months conducting due diligence on the technology before he called Rasmussen in January 2026 about Lane's interest in the cleats, per the Banner's reporting. Heap also endorsed Lane to Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta and has said the technology could change cleated sports altogether. Heap previously brought fellow investors Dennis Pitta, a retired Ravens tight end, and Joe Flacco, the team's former starting quarterback, into the company.

Rasmussen said Lane's investment could increase his long-term wealth and portfolio, and he hopes it sets an example for other young athletes entering professional sports, the Banner notes. Caddix's list of athlete investors also includes professional soccer player Kayla Sharples, reflecting what the company describes as a growing group of backers rather than a traditional sponsorship roster.

From a National Park Job to a Patented Cleat

Rasmussen began developing the technology after growing concerned that conventional football cleats were contributing to preventable injuries, studying anatomy, physics and biomechanics to design what became Caddix's SmartStud system, according to the Banner. The system is built to let studs flex and release from the turf when an athlete cuts or changes direction, reducing rotational force on the lower body. He first conceived the idea at age 19 while working as a housekeeper at Zion National Park, and it took four years and 10 patent resubmissions before he secured his first granted patent in August 2019, according to Voyage Baltimore. He later raised $60,000 from family and friends for feasibility studies and worked with Portland-based design firm I-Generator, and a video he posted of an early prototype went viral overnight in January 2024.

Caddix now holds 18 total patents built around flexible, force-mitigating junction points between the cleat sole and stud, and its cleats first became available for retail purchase in December 2024, per USA Lacrosse. The company's first production run, 3,000 men's football cleats and 3,000 women's soccer cleats, was seed-funded by Heap and Pitta before Flacco joined as an investor-adviser. The Baltimore-based brand expanded beyond football this year, signing a multi-year partnership with USA Lacrosse in April 2026 to become an official footwear provider for the U.S. National Team and Youth National Team.

Organic Adoption Without Paid Endorsements

As of the 2025-26 season, Caddix cleats carried official NFL approval, and more than 30 NFL players chose to wear them in games without collecting paid endorsement fees, per USA Lacrosse's reporting. The company projects that adoption could expand toward nearly 100 NFL athletes as visibility grows, though how Caddix plans to compete against entrenched giants like Nike and Adidas as more NFL and Olympic-level athletes gravitate toward non-sponsored gear remains an open question.

Lane's Fit in Baltimore's Red-Zone Puzzle

On the field, Lane signed a four-year, $7.03 million rookie contract on May 1, 2026, after Baltimore selected him in the third round, according to RotoWire. The Ravens ranked 27th in the NFL in red-zone offensive efficiency during the 2025 season, converting touchdowns on just 47.5% of red-zone drives, a sharp drop from the 74.2% rate that led the league in 2024, according to Sharp Football Analysis. Lane's college production suggests why Baltimore views him as a fix: 11 of his 16 touchdown catches at USC came inside the red zone, including 12 touchdowns in 2024 that ranked fifth-most in FBS football, capped by a 127-yard, three-touchdown MVP performance in the Las Vegas Bowl against Texas A&M.

Lane emerged as a standout during training camp, taking reps as a prospective starting perimeter receiver, and caught all three of his targets for 38 yards and a touchdown in a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, earning praise from quarterback Lamar Jackson, per NBC Sports. Hoodline previously covered his draft selection in the spring, and he has since factored into the Ravens' receiver rotation amid other offseason roster turbulence, including depth questions that arose after teammate Rashod Bateman's arrest this week.