Ravens Stars Make Team Decision Despite Contract Negotiations

In today's NFL, it's very common for players to hold out during training camp as they seek new contracts. In fact there's two major holdouts right now with Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson and Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin. For a pair of Baltimore Ravens stars, however, holding out was never an option.

Safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum, both 2022 first-round picks who have made the Pro Bowl twice in three years, are eligible for new extensions that will likely place them among the highest-paid players at their positions. Despite that, they're still on the field and giving it their all at training camp.

"I'll let [my agent] Neil [Cornrich] handle that," Linderbaum told reporters Friday. "My job is to be as prepared as possible and get this football team ready to go Week 1, so that's all I'm really worried about."

"I need to work on my craft, and I need to get better."

Hamilton, arguably the league's best safety right now, believes the Ravens having perfect attendance at training camp is a testament to the team culture.

"I don't want to speak for everybody else," Hamilton said. "Everybody has a unique situation, but we all care about football, and we're all here. We try our best to limit distractions, and business is business. It is a business that we play in, so stuff happens sometimes, but we're all here. We all just want to play football."

The Ravens usually do a good job of taking care of their homegrown talent, and both Hamilton and Linderbaum — the former especially — are well worth their price tags.

Baltimore has a bit more wiggle room with Hamilton, as it picked up his fifth-year option to keep him under contract through 2026. On the other hand, the Ravens declined Linderbaum's fifth-year option as it would've made him far and away the highest-paid center in the league (fifth-year options count all offensive linemen together when calculating value), so there's more urgency with him.

For now, though, it seems there's nothing to worry about on the contract front.