Imagine being in a room with a few coworkers, all of you with the same job and on expiring contracts. Some are perhaps more skilled than others, but some are younger and offer a potentially longer career.
This is the world that Ravens tight ends Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar have lived in this season, and it’s the kind of scenario that could have frayed the dynamic between the group and potentially the locker room.
Then on Wednesday, Baltimore made a somewhat surprising decision, giving Andrews a three-year, $39.3 million contract extension that includes $26 million guaranteed. The deal makes the 30-year-old the sixth-highest paid player at his position in the league and will keep him in Baltimore through the 2028 season.
Likely’s reaction?
He said that he was “gassed” and texted Andrews telling him that he loves him, is proud of him and there’s more work for them to do.
“I just watched my brother get paid, so I just enjoy it,” he said Thursday.
The deal also means that the future of Likely, 25, and Kolar, 26, both of whom are in the final year of their rookie contracts, is suddenly much more murky than it was a few months ago.
It hasn’t helped that they haven’t put up the kind of numbers that some expected — particularly Likely, who also missed the first three games of the season after breaking a bone in his foot during training camp. Since returning, he has just 18 catches for 223 yards and no touchdowns across nine games. Kolar, meanwhile, has just eight catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns this season.
This past offseason, Baltimore had entertained the idea of trade offers for Andrews, who is in his eighth season and has experienced a dip in his production over the past couple of seasons.
But the right deal never materialized. Now the two are wedded for the foreseeable future.
It’s something that Andrews, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, one-time All-Pro and the franchise leader in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, is ecstatic about.
“Just super grateful, just excited for this moment,” he said. “It means a lot being part of this organization and part of this community, this city. Just being drafted here eight years ago it means the world to me to be able to go out on the field to be able to fight and compete with these guys and this team. I couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
The signing capped a busy week for the 2018 third-round draft pick out of Oklahoma after he got engaged last week.
The deal also came together in about the span of two weeks.
“It felt like kind of four years ago,” he said, alluding to his 2021 contract extension. “It happened extremely fast then.”
Still, it took patience, he added. On neither occasion did Andrews choose to entertain free agency and instead becomes the rare player to sign a third contract with the Ravens.
“It was extremely important for me [to stay here],” he said, adding that he’d like to retire as a Raven whenever that day comes. “I’d say I was very patient in this process and not try to control things I can’t control. … But it was extremely import to me, and I expressed that to them, to be able to stay here.”
He has certainly had an impact, too, beyond his numbers on the field.
“Even as a rookie, he formed my work ethic and probably doesn’t even know it, just by observing him, lifting with him, watching how he practices,” All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton said. “As a 21-year-old rookie, you’re the man at whatever school you’re at, a first-round [pick], you see guys like that who are the man in the league, working how he works and it’s hard for that not to be contagious.”
Likely echoed similar sentiments, noting that Andrews has influenced how take care of his body, understanding of defenses and not relying on athleticism as well as how to study.
He also said there’s more to be done, for however much longer they’re together.
“I am just living in the moment, knowing that you have everything in front of us,” Likely said. “We try to win Super Bowl this year, one game at a time, one opponent at a time and knowing that I’ll let the rest take care of itself.”
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