Ravens legend Ozzie Newsome adds one final historic footnote to his greatest achievement — years after stepping away from the GM chair

Newsome has made some incredible draft choices. The first pick of his NFL career was Ed Reed in 2002. The first pick of the following year was Terrell Suggs. He's found future Hall of Famers like Marshal Yanda on Day 2 and home run picks like Matthew Judon and Za'Darius Smith on Day 3.

None of it holds a candle to his final act — a true master class in talent allocation. And now, thanks to a contract extension between the Miami Dolphins and defensive tackle Zach Sieler, the group holds the title of the most expensive draft class in league history. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, no single draft class has generated more value in future contract payouts than Newsome's final class as the Ravens general manager in 2018.

The list is incredible:

1. TE Hayden Hurt
2. QB Lamar Jackson
3. OT Orlando Brown Jr.
4. TE Mark Andrews
5. CB Anthony Averett
6. SAF DeShon Elliott
7. IOL Bradley Bozeman
8. DT Zach Sieler
9. CB Darious Williams (undrafted)
10. RB Gus Edwards (undrafted)

This is all in one draft class! Of course, the figures that Schefter is referencing are taking some liberties — Sieler's contract extension is his third NFL contract, so not all of these are contracts that are coming right off a rookie deal. But the numbers are still inspiring. The securing of Lamar Jackson in and of itself was an especially inspiring move to reflect on. Baltimore send picks No. 52, No. 125 and a 2019 second-round draft choice to Philadelphia to jump to the 32nd overall pick in order to make the pick — and they also got a fourth-round draft choice back that year, too.

But this class was only able to seize this title thanks to Newsome's final draft choice, Sieler, getting a three-year, $67.75 million contract extension from the Dolphins over the weekend. Sieler was an under the radar defensive line talent from Ferris State — which left him understandably off of many radars in the pre-draft process. He spent his first year of his NFL career in Baltimore and was cut and re-signed several times before the Dolphins finally seized him off the waiver wire in December of 2019.

In the years since, Sieler has gone on to log 30 sacks, including 10 in each of the last two seasons. He's now the 10th highest-paid defensive tackle in the league based on the annual average of his new contract. And he's also the final feather in the cap of Ozzie Newsome's all-time great NFL career as a general manager. Sieler getting paid for the talent he's become gives Newsome one last notch in a bedpost that is riddled with accolades.