The Ravens’ heartbreaking loss to the Bills on Sunday might have ended their playing season, but general manager Eric DeCosta is already working on the team’s offseason moves.
Pending free agents like Ronnie Stanley, Patrick Ricard, and Ar’Darius Washington may be his first priority, but he’s also preparing for long-term extension negotiations with Kyle Hamilton and Tyler Linderbaum, who will be eligible for such deals this offseason. DeCosta said on Wednesday that the team is starting to work on those contracts, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.
DeCosta struck gold with his two first-rounders in 2022, taking Hamilton when he fell to the 14th pick and pulling off a few trades to land Linderbaum 11 selections later. Linderbaum immediately took over Baltimore’s starting center job, while Hamilton slid into the slot and was starting by the end of the year. Both players earned PFWA All-Rookie selections before Pro Bowl nods in 2023 and 2024, placing them among the best at their positions after just three years in the NFL.
The 2022 draftees each have one year remaining on their rookie contracts, plus their fifth-year options for the 2026 season. With two Pro Bowls apiece, their fifth-year options will be at the fourth and highest tier, which is equal to the franchise tag at their positions.(Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner is the only other 2022 first-rounder to qualify for the highest fifth-year option tier.)
The Ravens will almost certainly pick up Hamilton’s fifth-year option, projected to be $19.626MM by OverTheCap, but he will be looking for a higher average annual value on a long-term extension. Antoine Winfield reset the safety market with his four-year, $84.1MM extension last offseason, but Hamilton can argue that he deserves more. He is one of the most versatile defensive players in the league with the ability to make plays against the run or pass from nearly any alignment. His first 2.5 seasons leaned into that versatility, but with Baltimore’s pass defense struggling in 2024, Hamilton moved into a more traditional deep safety role and locked down the deep parts of the field.
Linderbaum’s situation is a little more complicated. The NFL groups all offensive linemen together for franchise tag and fifth-year option calculations, so Linderbaum’s option is projected to be a whopping $25.156MM, far outpacing Creed Humphrey‘s league-leading $18MM APY. Linderbaum is an excellent pass protector who can be used as a blocking weapon in the run game, so he still deserves to be paid at the top of the center market, but the inflated option could impact negotiations. The Ravens will likely still pick it up as a show of good faith to make it clear that the young center is in their long-term plans.