Ravens GM Declines to Update Negotiations of Three Stars

There is no denying that the Baltimore Ravens knocked both of their first-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft out of the park when they landed safety Kyle Hamilton at number 14 overall and center Tyler Linderbaum at number 25 overall they got from the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for former first-rounder Marquise 'Hollywood' Brown.

Both players were the consensus top prospects at their positions and have not only lived up to but exceeded expectations. They have each established themselves as one of the best at their respective positions in the league and have been voted to the Pro Bowl in each of the past two years.

One of the benefits of having an elite player on a rookie contract is that they cost pennies on the dime relative to the market rate for the top players at their position for at least four years and potentially a little longer depending on several different variables. However, if those players wind up being home runs like Hamilton and Linderbaum have, a large bill will eventually come due down the road and that time is nearly upon the Ravens.

The team has until May 1 to exercise the fifth-year contract options for each player and when asked about whether they have made a decision on either at his annual pre-draft press conference, general manager Eric DeCosta declined to divulge any details about if and when it might happen.

"There's really no updates on that front," DeCosata said. "I think the last couple of years I've waited to announce that and handle that, and I think that's going to be the case again this year."

Last year the Ravens waited until three days after the 2024 NFL Draft to pick up the fifth-year option of 2021 first-round outside linebacker Odafe Oweh which was $13.251 million. The year before, they only waited two days after the 2023 NFL Draft to decline the fifth-year option of 2020 first-round linebacker Patricks Queen which would've counted $12.722 million against the cap and kept him on the team through the 2024 season.

In both of those instances, those players were still ascending and hadn't been voted to a Pro Bowl although Queen would earn the first of his career and Second Team All Pro honors in the final year of his rookie deal before departing in free agency to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Given what they've both accomplished already in their young careers, the fifth-year options for Hamilton and Linderbaum would carry much heftier price tags.

For their All-Pro safety, his figure was revealed to be $18.6 million which is nearly quadruple the $5.1 million he is slated to make in 2025. As big of a jump as that is, it would still only make him the third highest-paid player at his position in the league, behind only Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Antoine Winfield Jr. who averages $21 million a year and Los Angeles Chargers Derwin James who averages $19 million a year.

Since the fifth-year option figure lumps all offensive linemen together including offensive tackles, Linderbaum's figure would be a whopping $23.4 million which would re-set the center market by a significant margin. The current highest-paid player at the position is the Kansas City Chiefs' Creed Humphrey at an average of $18 million a year and the next closest is the Detroit Lions' Frank Ragnow with an annual average salary of $13.5 million.

The Ravens are probably well aware and content with making Hamilton the next highest-paid safety because of all he can do and what he means to their defense. They probably don't mind making Linderbaum the highest-paid center either, just not at that astronomical number.

Another contract situation for a high-profiled player that DeCosta was asked about on Tuesday was the status of a potential and expected extension for five-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry. He was one of the main catalysts for the Ravens' success on offense last season in his first season with the team and vastly outplayed the bargain two-year deal worth $16 million he signed last offseason.

"We have a lot of different balls in air right now," DeCosta said. "That's probably what I would say on that. I'm not going to talk about what we're doing [or] what we're not doing behind the scenes business-wise with these guys. I don't think it's good for me to do that."

In his last media appearance at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, he all but guaranteed that Henry would be a Raven beyond 2025 when he talked about a photo of the future Hall of Famer getting hung up on the wall in his office. Extending Henry still feels like a forgone conclusion as he continues to prove to be the exception to the rule when it comes to the narrative surrounding running backs once they reach the dreaded 30-plus years old threshold.