With the 2025 season about to kickoff, Eric DeCosta and the Baltimore Raves made it very clear about the significance of “safety” Kyle Hamilton for the future of the franchise and the leadership of its defense. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the new $100 million contract and the evolving role and status of the most important chess piece the team has on its emerging defense.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Ravens’ recent contract extension with Kyle Hamilton, highlighting his versatility and potential as a generational defensive player. Hamilton’s six-year deal, worth $100 million, reflects his impact across various defensive roles. Jones emphasized Hamilton’s smarts, physical prowess, and the Ravens’ strategic decision to secure him long-term. The conversation contrasted the Ravens’ approach with the Cowboys’ mishandling of Micah Parsons, underscoring the importance of retaining key players. They also touched on the upcoming season’s expectations for veterans like Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey, and the need for young players like Malachi Starks to step up.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Discuss the differences between the Ravens’ and Cowboys’ approaches to retaining elite defensive players.
- [ ] Analyze the Ravens’ decision to extend Kyle Hamilton’s contract and make him the highest-paid safety.
- [ ] Examine the Ravens’ overall roster management strategy and how they balance keeping their top players.
Kyle Hamilton’s Contract and Role within Ravens Defense
- Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning various sponsors and upcoming events, including the Maryland crab cake tour.
- Nestor thanks new sponsors GBMC and discusses obesity and weight loss.
- Nestor mentions visiting friends in Buffalo and highlights the coverage from John Warraro and others.
- Nestor introduces Luke Jones, who has been monitoring the Ravens in Owings Mills.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the Kyle Hamilton contract, noting its significance despite being overshadowed by other news.
Kyle Hamilton’s Versatility and Impact
- Nestor and Luke discuss the reasons behind Kyle Hamilton’s significant contract, emphasizing his versatility and impact on the defense.
- Luke explains that Hamilton is not just a safety but a “football player” who can make an impact at every level of the defense.
- Luke highlights Hamilton’s smarts, physical attributes, and ability to play various roles, including nickel and blitzing off the edge.
- Nestor and Luke compare Hamilton to other great defensive players like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, noting his potential to be a generational player.
The Importance of Kyle Hamilton to the Ravens
- Luke emphasizes that the Ravens wanted to secure Hamilton long-term, recognizing his value and potential.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the financial aspects of Hamilton’s contract, noting the total value over six years.
- Luke explains that the Ravens wanted to lock in Hamilton’s contract before the CBA and TV deals increased salaries.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of having Hamilton under contract through 2030, ensuring stability for the defense.
Comparisons to Other NFL Teams and Players
- Nestor and Luke compare the Ravens’ handling of Hamilton’s contract to the Cowboys’ situation with Micah Parsons.
- Nestor highlights the differences in how franchises like the Ravens and Cowboys manage their players and contracts.
- Luke discusses the Cowboys’ focus on brand and drama over winning Super Bowls, contrasting it with the Ravens’ approach.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of keeping key players like Hamilton and the challenges of managing a roster with a high-paid quarterback.
The Future of the Ravens’ Defense
- Nestor and Luke discuss the future of the Ravens’ defense, including the potential departure of players like Linderbaum and Andrews.
- Luke emphasizes the importance of developing young players like Malachi Starks and Mike Green to replace veterans.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the need for the Ravens to balance paying their core players while developing new talent.
- Nestor highlights the importance of having key players like Hamilton and Lamar Jackson under long-term contracts.
The Role of Veteran Players and Upcoming Games
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of veteran players like Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey in the upcoming season.
- Nestor expresses excitement for the upcoming game against the Bills and the return of football.
- Luke emphasizes the need for young players like Nate Wiggins and Malachi Starks to step up and prove their value.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of managing the roster and ensuring the team remains competitive in the long term.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Kyle Hamilton, Ravens defense, contract extension, safety position, Micah Parsons, Cowboys, NFL, football players, roster management, Lamar Jackson, defensive philosophy, player value, team stability, future contracts, NFL season.
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. Happy opening week to everyone. Happy Labor Day, post Labor Day, leftover Labor Day, send the kids back to school day. That happened last week, but sending me back to the Maryland crab cake tour next week, we’re going to be at the Beaumont on the 16th. All of it brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I’ll have some pressure lucks and Lucky Seven. A handful of these left. I will have Raven scratch off on the 16th when I get over to Catonsville. Uh, big thanks to our newest sponsors at GBMC, if you’re out there checking that out. Some information about obesity and weight loss. I’ve had people using those epics. I’ve learned some things about that this week, and just a lot of visiting with my friends up in Buffalo this week, whether it’s John warrow from the Associated Press telling him how the guitars and replacements try to steal my girlfriend at hammer Jacks back in the 80s, or whether it’s Sean McClain talking about the league in Houston and DeAndre Hopkins and and also Clark judge and some others. So great coverage here this week, but nothing better than our own Luke Jones, who’s been an out out in Owings Mills monitoring, you know, I don’t know. Man, no injury report this or worry last week that it’s all next week that and how are we going to feel on Monday morning? But certainly the biggest news that happened through the holiday, and it might have gotten buried a little bit because it happened at the end of the week, and the Orioles and this and that, and people are kind of going away, was the Kyle Hamilton thing, and you had said, and by the way, if you’re on the wnsd tech service, you get it first. It’s all brought to you by Cole roof gang, Guardian energy. We do that. We’ve been doing that longer and better than anybody, almost two decades into that the three that. Let’s figure out exactly when we started that work right up on about 20 years. So we really want to celebrate that with Bill Cole. But give 100 million bucks, and some fans say, Well, you know, so this is gonna be educational today. We’ll do football 101, today, and for a lot of people and say, Why? Why him? Why the money? Why he’s a safety. You know, remember Brian Billick saying every Edgar safety, you’re still a safety, I would say for this isn’t shocking to you and me, people that really know the game and watch the game, you’re a guy that has from much like you felt that way about ruchman A couple years because he’s the best player on the field right now at the time, Kyle Hamilton kind of came into that seat pretty quickly, and we weren’t talking as much roquan And Marlon Humphrey was what he was in. Madabeki is going to get his money, but he’s not the versatility and the kind of, you know, X Factor player, and in the aftermath of this Micah Parsons nonsense that went on with the Cowboys in Green Bay, letting a really good player leave and not being able to define what Peter Boulware couldn’t, couldn’t do to become this kind of player in a different kind of era, with a different kind of body style, versus how impactful Ray Lewis was a generation ago. And may or may not be, based on how they play the game these days, certainly the aggression Kyle Hamilton is the right player in the right place at the right time, and the right franchise being used, maybe in the right way to be as valuable as the contract. But I would ask you, because you’re the football head around here, and what do we know about football? We discover professionally better than anybody, what makes Kyle Hamilton the guy, if you’re explaining it to I don’t know, let’s say your sister didn’t know as much about football. And said, Hey, why don’t they give him all that money? I understood Ray Lewis. I understand Ed Reed. What? Why is Kyle Hamilton, a generational Mount Rushmore kind of player? Well,
Luke Jones 03:37
because I think when you look at a roster and you obviously see a player’s position, you see a capital S for him being a safety. It’s more than a safety. And we’ve been talking about that for a couple years now, now, early on, and we even talked about this in our previous segment. You know, when you’re talking about a rookie safety like Malachi Starks is about to make his NFL debut, you know, there could be some hiccups, and there were with Kyle Hamilton. And we saw the Ravens mainly because they they didn’t necessarily need him to to take his lumps as a deep safety. At that point in time, they put him at the nickel now that was almost more out of need and what was best for him as a rookie. But since then, we’ve just seen him take off. He has the makeup. He’s smart. He’s a freak physically. You know when, when you look at how he how big he is, how he hits, how he runs. I mean, he is everything. And to go back to what I said, He’s not just the safety. I mean, he is in that breed that you would just say, and this sounds a little bit coach, Coach speaky, but he’s a football player. More specifically, he’s a heck of a defensive football player. And the thing about Kyle Hamilton is he can make an impact at every level of the defense, and we’ve seen that. I mean, we’ve seen him play nickel. We’ve seen him rough rush off the edge, you know, as a bli. Sir, and be really good doing that. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 05:02
he doesn’t think of himself as a safety, right? Yeah, right.
Luke Jones 05:04
Well, what’s funny is, I think he does, but he is fully open and embraces doing whatever the defense asks of him, and more specifically, and we learned this big time the second half of last year needs from him, where he transitioned from being this all over the field, not knowing where he was going to line up, and not to say he didn’t do any of that, but that was scaled back a little bit. Why? Because Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson were killing them on the back end of the defense, to the point where they said, We need you to play a little more like that, right? We need you to do that. And you and our Darius Washington are going to, you know, we need to right the ship here. And they did that. And that’s a compliment to those two, you know, together, and it’s a compliment to the coaching staff for recognizing and making a difficult decision. But it just speaks to how incredibly versatile, incredibly dynamic, how smart Kyle Hamilton is, if you talk to his teammates, how, you know, and that taking nothing away from roquan Smith, who is the middle linebacker, the traditional quarterback of a defense, right in the way that Ray Lewis was for decades, and, you know, decades ago and what he did. And you know, you think of any great middle linebacker what, what they meant, even with even with the position and its demands having evolved over the years. No No disrespect meant to Marlon Humphrey or namdi Mada BK or the other dynamic players on this defense. And they have a lot of them, Kyle Hamilton’s my one. You know, he’s the guy that I’m taking before any of them, and I’m not thinking twice about it. That’s how dynamic he is. And, you know, I started saying this last year, you know, during his third season. You know me, man, I’m not I. I really loathe the hot take element of what our business can be. And I don’t say that to be personal to anyone, just in a general sense, I don’t like being over the top and using hyperbole. I’m just not that way. Kyle Hamilton has every ounce of potential and ability and football smarts and makeup to be the third best defensive player. And I only say that because I’m not going to put him with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. I just refuse to do that. But maybe in five or six years, maybe we will be talking in those terms. But the fact that I’m putting him, or I think he has the ability to be above Suggs and above nada and every other multi Time Pro Bowl defensive player they’ve had. It speaks to what I think about him, and it speaks to I think it speaks to why the organization, despite the fact that they had him under his final year of his rookie contract, like his standard four year contract as a the middle of the first round pick, and they already had his fifth year option year locked in next year, they didn’t want to wait. Why wait? Because the price is only going to go up, especially knowing, you know, once you get to closer to the CBA, more TV deals, all of that, price always goes up. So the idea was, let’s do this now. We have him locked in through 2030 I mean, we’re talking about someone who’s still, I mean, Kyle Hamilton’s 24 years old. I mean, that’s what build their defense around him. Now, sure, sure. And that’s the thing. And people will say, Well, you know, did you have to go to 25 million per year first of all, if you kind of look at it in its totality, what he’s making this year is still modest, beyond the $27 million signing bonus. But what his base salary was going to be this year. You know, kind of sort of stays in, put in place, same thing for next year. So really, when you kind of look at it, you know, if you combine the six years, it’s a little over 20 million per year. AAV, but
Nestor Aparicio 08:54
you know what, I always think with these guys, they got calculators bigger than you and me at this point. AI, and treatments for all of this, and the Ravens are as good as anybody you know, other than giving money to the wrong guy, which Earl Thomas, you know, figure out who it is, or giving happens every year now and then to, you know, to Odell Beckham a couple of years ago, in overvaluing that on purpose in some way, this is A guy they think is their next, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, generational player, that they’re going to win three championships with him and Lamar together, because he’s going to be the Lamar of the defense.
Luke Jones 09:30
Yeah. I mean, you hope so. And, I mean, obviously, in our previous segment, we talked about championships and how that’s always tied to the quarterback. But you know, Kyle Hamilton was asked on Wednesday, when the announcement came and he spoke to the media about an, you know, an hour later or so, you know, he was kind of asked, you know, what’s next for you in terms of individually speaking, you know, what about your play would you like to take to the next level? And, you know, it’s a little cliche, like, but he just said, very matter of fact. Matter of factly, Super Bowl. Mm. Like, I mean, I mean, you resign Kyle Hamilton, you give Kyle Hamilton, you make him the highest paid safety in NFL history, and pay him not really like a safety. They played him, paid him like a football player. And I think I even, I think you and I, at one point in time, over the last six months, we talked about, like, valuation, like, how would you and I think I even said to you, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get 25 million, because I said, if I were his agent, I were his agent, I would say, guys, you know, he’s not just a safety. I mean, you just, you know that you don’t use him like a traditional safety. So I kind of thought, you know, to me, 25 million
Nestor Aparicio 10:34
a year, you use him like a rush edge, like Mike’s, I mean, like the Parsons, or something like that, which gets us to the value of I want to throw this in, because this is turmoil for the Cowboys, right? And, you know, when I’ve talked about the Chargers losing their linemen, you know, players lose teams losing anchor pieces. If somehow Ronnie Stanley were just down for the year and the Ravens had to figure it out, or sometimes Kyle Hamilton, you know, like, just gonna say, players, right? Like, 2530 $40, million players, quarterbacks, obviously, but difference makers, when Joe burrow doesn’t have a wide receiver, when, you know, when whatever that that that piece is not the king, but the queen. How about that? You know, on the chessboard, when it goes away for the cowboys and the mismanagement part. And I always keep going back to this because I had Mark Messina on this week. And obviously, I think Mark Messina is one of the great guests I ever have on. I’ve known Mark 35 years. I don’t know anyone more astute about sports inside, outside. His brother agents. He’s written books. He’s written like Mark, marks County Commissioner now in your state, up in Lycoming County, up in the North County, North State, um, and we talked about my and he’s a lifelong Cowboy fan, and I tried to express to him, having had his brother, and he was telling me stories about his brother in New York, and how one, you know, something got broken there. Steinbrenner would get it done when things got broken in Baltimore, Angelus wanted to sue the stadium authority because the Ravens didn’t have the same, like, literally, a different kind of life. We’re talking about it. And then there’s Jerry Jones, who you and I went through that facility, and I still can’t believe we did it. And we literally saw the locker rooms and all the things when I’ve covered sports my whole life and thought this is more of an art gallery. It looks like, you know, Turkish spa than it looks like anything else. And they’re not getting football Decisions Right. And the difference in when you lose a Kyle Hamilton as opposed to signing one, and we can bring this to the baseball team too, because it’s good week to do that, because we’re not talking any baseball this week. So I’ll mingle it and let people know how smart you are about baseball, in case they they’re asleep during the baseball season, that Oriole sign pasio, you’re up. Oh, it’s greatest thing ever. I’m like, Well, if, if he’s a major league player, most of them make $70 million so it’s not that much money if he is, if he he turns out to be Austin A’s, or Cedric Mullins, and just a good player, if he turns out to be Matt weeders, it’s still not going to cripple it’s not going to cripple them, right? And it’s a good deal for the kid, and it’s a good deal for them, and he’s from the islands, like my people, and much more apt to take the money than anybody that’s been Jackson holiday growing up in a mansion, right? So if there is a difference in all that we went through Joe Flacco, not growing up in a mansion. It’s still saying, I’ll get paid the same anyway. Kyle Hamilton, taking this deal and wanting to be here important for the organization. Him, financial stability, like all of that. Why the Cowboys can’t get it done when they have all the money of God, and why they want to break that up, and what that means when you lose an X factor player that when the Ravens say, Yeah, we like our center, we like our tight end, we like our whatever, but we’re going to sign this safety and give him top of market, no questions asked. We want that kid in our locker room the next six years, and then the Micah Parsons things happens within 24 hours, right? Like it really does speak to these franchises as the house Steve Bisciotti and with art modell. By the way, I’ve had two parades since Jerry threw out Jimmy Johnson and I watched Barry Switzer win on the Hill that you know, before we had the Ravens. It’s crazy, but you see the movements of these franchises, and you’re like, ravens, find a guy, draft a guy, don’t even use him. I mean, Kyle Hamilton will be a safety anywhere else, right? He really would be right.
Luke Jones 14:28
I mean, I think there might be, there are some other good defensive coaches that I think would have moved him around, but yeah, and a lot of
Nestor Aparicio 14:34
kind of team to do that, sure, and if you’re defensive coordinator, you have to have job security, like all of those kinds of the things that be doing Island, I’m going to play a different kind of defense than anybody’s ever seen by using his safety from Notre Dame and running him around like Lawrence Taylor, literally,
Luke Jones 14:49
right? Well, and I think part, that’s part of why you saw him drop because, I mean, some teams didn’t like how he ran, right? They said he was too slow. I mean, it’s it. Ball player. I’ll figure out how to use. It’s not exactly the same, because, you know, Lamar was kind of an extreme example of this, but it’s the same way where the Ravens said, Yeah, we like, we really like Lamar Jackson. We’ll get creative, you know, we’ll do some things a little bit differently than, you know, your quote, prototype quarterback, whatever that means. And we’re even that’s been so successful when you say the same thing about some of these other modern quarterbacks, where the idea of a prototype quarterback is evolving, you don’t think of a guy anymore, like in 2025 like you don’t think of a starting quarterback as someone that you want to be Tom Brady in the pocket, where they’re not going to move, and they’re just a statue back there. I mean, you don’t Kyle Hamilton and you can recall, probably, I probably started using the term positionless defense, and, more specifically, positionless secondary with the Ravens. I mean, this might have been seven or eight years ago. At this point in time, this was probably transitioning from Dean Pease to to wink Martindale, which was 2017 to 2018
Nestor Aparicio 16:00
Kyle and when came from the Ryan school, sure. Of course, we’re gonna do anything. Yeah,
Luke Jones 16:04
and again, I don’t want to say this is so cutting edge that no other teams do this, because there are other really talented, good system defenses that that move guys around. But when you have someone like Kyle Hamilton, who’s as big as he is, as strong as he is, as fast as he is, okay, he doesn’t run like a corner. I get that, but he’s still plenty fast, and you do all that, why would you why would you just try to restrict him to doing one thing you know, you want to be careful with this. And I’ve said to you, because he’s going to be playing with Malachi Starks here early on. I’m wondering if you do see the Ravens play it a little more conventionally early on in the season. But the idea, and by the way, now look, I Starks, this guy who played a lot of nickel at Georgia last year, I think once he is more comfortable, and that might be week eight, it might be week 13, or it might be next season. I mean, you don’t know. I don’t want to put too much as far as expectations on a young kid, but the idea is you’re going to have these two guys that you can move around like crazy. I mean, can play in the box, play in the slot, you know, line up and blitz from the edge. I’m not I’m guessing Malachi Starks probably won’t do as much of that as Hamilton, but that’s what you want. So when you get a piece that is that special to what fits your philosophy and what you want to do as a defense collectively you pay them. I mean, it’s inexplicable. It’s not inexplicable because I’m not surprised. Because you know what? Jerry Jones cares about, $13 billion the Dallas Cowboys. I think the most recent valuation I saw of the franchise was $13 billion he cares way more about that than winning Super Bowls. It’s just the truth. I mean, he’ll argue otherwise, and some of this, you know, I’ll shy away from talking about his age, and you know how out of touch he might be, or any of that. I mean, he called Michael Parsons. He was calling him Michael multiple times in the press conference. It was just kind of odd to me. But the point is, with that, you know, Jerry thinks about the brand and loves the attention, loves the drama, all of that. And don’t get me wrong, Steve a shotty cares about how much the ravens are worth. You know, the Rooney family cares how much the Steelers are worth. I mean, they they all care about that. I mean, they’re billionaire owners, but at the same time, the Ravens recognize and maybe Michael Parsons is a perfect example to say we don’t want to even take a chance that it gets to that point where he’s entering his final year of his deal. Maybe, you know, we had some rough negotiations with his agent. There’s some hurt feelings, like we don’t even want to go there. This guy is that dynamic? This guy is that great? We We think boring, something very bizarre, is at the very least, going to be a slam dunk Ring of Honor player for us, let alone talking about maybe, maybe being a Hall of Famer if he does this for another decade, so we’re going to pay him. And you know what? If it kind of resets the safety market a little bit, that’s okay, because he’s more important than quote, justice, safety for us. So I think that’s how you look at that. Whereas the Cowboys, Jerry loves the drama. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance, I would recommend it. I’ve started watching it. It’s fascinating. But Netflix just, they’re doing a, they did a documentary on Jerry Jones, you know, taking over the Cowboys, buying the team, firing Tom Landry, all the faux pas, PR wise but, but they also built a dynasty in the first half of the 90s with him and and Jimmy Johnson and what they did. But I think it’s very illuminating to kind of see why Jerry is the way he is. But, I mean, my goodness, and not that, Michael Parsons is a flawless, you know. I mean, there have been some whispers in terms of, like, you know, Is he truly all into the degree that you’d like a player, that you’re paying that much money? To be, I mean, okay, I’ll hear that kind of stuff, right? I mean, I suppose, but at the very least, you certainly don’t wait till a week before the season to trade them and you’re going to get, you get two first round picks and a nose tackle. And those first round picks are going to be end of the first round, most likely. So, I mean, my goodness, pu how do you let something like that happen with a guy that is that dynamic, and that’s where I look at it. Could have gotten you a chess piece in the draft, sure. I mean, like, multiple chess pieces in the draft, and you might have, you might have been able to get a top, a couple top 10 picks, or,
Nestor Aparicio 20:33
who knows, you have three, four football players in your team right now instead of a nose tackle? Yeah,
Luke Jones 20:37
yeah. I mean, it’s not the Herschel Walker trade, but it can at least set you up in a way that’s going to be way better off than what this
Nestor Aparicio 20:43
will be. We talk about the Orioles being screwy one way or another, what they’re going to do with ruchman this offseason, and their plans that they’ve given money to a different catcher, and you know so and where their beliefs are. If they believe Colton couch is going to come out of this or not, but nobody in the sport believes Micah Parsons would be a bad piece on their team, unless you don’t want to pay the kid. And you don’t, you know, sort of the way the Orioles didn’t like Machado enough to pay him, right? I mean, so we can go through this, but in the NFL, in a general sense, this doesn’t happen much. Happening more, happening more with the Jalen Ramsey’s and, you know, these guys that don’t really, that just want to move around and play on different teams. Who was the guy that was the Revis? You know, every year he’s on a different island, right? I mean, like, so I get the me generation. The NBA is way more like that. But I tell you what around here, when Tyler Linder bomb can play, they’re probably going to pay him. They’re gonna figure out a way to pay him. And if Isaiah likely replaces Mark Andrews, they’ll figure out a way to pay him. You know, I mean, let alone for every Pat Rickard or oddball they’ve had that they’ve kept around. But there’s a reason Tucker kicked for 15 years, of course, they didn’t know anything about any of his transgressions the last two or three contracts, course, or they would have never have done that with a guy like that, but they kept him. They didn’t get to a point where this so the Ravens never get to this point. Most good NFL teams rarely get to this point unless they have a player they just don’t want, or a malcontent or somebody doesn’t want to be on the team, or the teams in the toilet. But if the teams in toilet. It’s not like the Ravens. I mean, so, um, and this is a weird time of the year for all that, right? Like, what Hendrickson and the bangles, these franchises that have it again and again, hold ins, right? Hold Yeah, I don’t even know what the term hold in means, because it never happens here. Well, I
Luke Jones 22:37
mean, if you recall, JK, JK Dobbins did it, right? It blew up in his face. And I don’t say that with any, you know, I don’t take any satisfaction in it. I mean, it was he tours Achilles week one. I mean, you know, just as a side note, and I mentioned this, I mean, James Cook was, was, was a hold in for the bills. Now, I think he started practicing, like, August 12, something like that. So it’s not as though he, but that’s going to be interesting to see how he plays, not just week one, but how does he play moving forward, right? I mean, it’s tough in that front but and look Eric Decosta, when he when he talked on Wednesday, he acknowledged, when you kind of look at who’s coming up, they have Linder bomb, they have a daffo away away. They have Isaiah likely, and Mark Andrews Travis Jones is coming up. He acknowledged you’re probably going to see a couple guys from that group walk on. And I’ll be honest, you mentioned Linder bomb. Look, they really, really like Linder bomb. I’m not convinced they’re going to give him the $20 million that someone’s going to give him per year. He might be the guy that ends up walking not because they don’t like them, but because you can’t pay every single guy. However, when you have someone like Kyle Hamilton, typically, we talk about this in terms of quarterbacks being the Paramount position, because we know it’s the most important position on the field, either side of the ball. But when you have someone like Kyle Hamilton, or it was Terrell Suggs or Ray Lewis or Ed Reed or Joe Flacco previously, or Lamar Jackson a couple years ago, and they’re gonna have to work out another extension with Lamar to lower his cap figure for next year. So that’s a big part of that equip that puzzle that I just mentioned as well. But when you have those guys, you don’t let them go. I mean, you just don’t, and that’s why what the Ravens did in contrast to what just happened with the Cowboys. I mean, it’s just, and I get it, Micah Parsons is making way more money than than what Kyle Hamilton got, right? I mean, we understand an edge rusher is on either side of the ball the second most truly elite of the elite edge rushers. You know, I’m talking about the select group of the top five or six, right? They get paid as much as anyone that’s not a top shelf NFL quarterback, but, man, how do you let it get to that point? That’s why I commend the Ravens on saying not taking this as Oh, we got Kyle Hamilton for two more years. You know, we’re, we’re fine. I mean, cheap. You know, even his his fifth year option is going to be very affordable compared to what he’s going to make. Let’s just wait. You know, let, let’s No, they said, We got to take care of this. We want to take care of this,
Nestor Aparicio 25:05
also like happy football players, and then more than maybe they did 25 years ago, where Kevin Byrne would often say to me, you know, we don’t mind that they’re playing pissed off, and they’re playing for a contract, whether it’s Ed Hartwell who’s going to get his money elsewhere or whatever that If Tyler Linder bombs going to get his money doing this for the Packers, that he’s going to bust his ass here because he’s pissed off for greatness and he realizes, in many cases, these guys aren’t dumb. They all have agents. They’re like, your future’s not here. Every future’s not here. You know Patrick Queen the minute that roquan Smith came in, right? So go out there, bust your ass, keep your nose down, and maybe the Steelers will pay you, and they did in the case of Patrick queen, right? Sure. And
Luke Jones 25:50
let me be clear, I’m not saying that Linder bombs gone after this year definitely. I’m just saying when I’m kind of looking at it, I’m wondering, you know, when you look at what they’re gonna have to do. But the point was,
Nestor Aparicio 25:59
it’s not like Mr. Rubenstein, who has an unlimited budget.
Luke Jones 26:03
The point was, when you, when you look at the guys they had coming up here over this coming off season, and the one after that, you know, obviously you need to take care of Lamar more so cap wise than anything. But beyond that, you rank those guys. Kyle Hamilton was at the top. So the the thought is, get it done. You now have him under contractual control through 2030 right? It’s 2025
Nestor Aparicio 26:29
he can be at ease. You love him. You love his character. That he’s going to continue to play hard. This isn’t going to be a guy who gets comfortable in the way that not not a lot of players, but some players might, and you’re going to put your head on the pillow, whether, whether you’re talking about Eric Acosta, John Harbaugh, Zach or whoever, Steve Bisciotti, and you’re going to put your head on the pillow and feel really good that Kyle Hamilton is going to be on your football team the next six years. So it’s, it’s absolutely a win for the Ravens. It’s a win for Hamilton. It’s a win for his agent who can say, hey, we reset the safety market. It’s a win for every agent who has a safety no doubt, but, but the point, you know, come two or three or four years from now, that Hamilton deal will, I think borrowing something very smell good? Yeah, out of the ordinary. Oh, I have no complaints about it. Believe me, we complain about contracts and this and that. I think we’ve done a really good job here, 30 minutes of sort of summing it all up by just showing what Dallas didn’t do, what they’ve done, and also bring a little oral history here, maybe the little Oriole future in as to, how much do you like Adley rutschman? How much did I like Jonathan scope? How much did you like Manny Machado? How much did Don Mueller like Chris Davis? You know, I mean, like, literally along the pathway. You can’t sign them all. You can’t have everybody. And we even talk about Adam Jones and Mark Caicos back in the day, right? Or, you know, breaking up the band and how all of this works. Well, that’s where we are right now with Ronnie Stanley as we enter Buffalo and dia we’ll get back to the game here, just a little bit. Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, I have beaten the band with you last week with others this week with all the buffalo people we’ve had on, whether it’s John warrow and my NFL legends like Clark judge, and we’re going to talk some 75 colts with Clark judge, with this reunion. I gotta find Bert. Call me Bert Liddell. Come on. Hey, diddle. Diddle, give me a call up the middle. So that’s going on next week. Drink some beer. 75 Colts. Don’t mean anything to you kids, but see, oh, but nonetheless, we got a game and these veteran players. It’s funny, you say veteran because my wife said, How old are those colts guys? I’m like, hold on, Bruce Laird’s age. Be nice to Bruce, you know. And Stan some of those guys not that old, but we got old guys on this team right now. And, you know, I want to see where I want to see thumbs up with roquan Smith. I want to see Marlon Humphrey running around like a premier cornerback. Maybe not the best he’s ever been, but pretty good. I want to see the young guys in the right space, in the right time. I’m all for judging the young players and Lamar and all you know, all of that, but I want to see Derrick Henry still do it. I want to see Ronnie Stanley still do because they really are counting on the reason these guys Henry aside his contract where he is very highly compensated running back, enough so that makes Chad Weasley happy that he’s a running back agent all of a sudden, but Ronnie Stanley, Marlon, they’re being paid toward the top of school at this point to be top of school, and they’ve had the failure. I just want to see where they are in the food chain. That’s all because I feel like I know where Lamar is. I feel like I know where Linder bomb is. I feel like the Rosen gardens and some of these guys coming on, I know where Kyle Hamilton is, but I have question marks about some of their key players, and I know you have questions. Remarks about every Trenton Simpson and every Malachi Starks and whoever’s unproven, right? I
Luke Jones 30:04
was just going to say part of the the NFL roster circle of life is, yeah, you’re probably, you might lose a Linder bomb next off season, or you’re going to lose a mark Andrews next offseason, or some combination of those. I mentioned those five or six guys. They’re going to pay some of them. They’re not gonna be able to pay all. I mean, Eric to Costa flat out, said it. So that’s why it’s so important that you mentioned Marlon Humphrey. What does Nate Wiggins look like in year two? Is he looking like he’s an ascending guy, that in a couple years you’re going to be paying him? You hope you’re at least having that conversation. Otherwise, then it probably wasn’t the best pick. Yeah, he better be the better cornerback, right? I mean, like, he doesn’t have to be better than Marlon this year, but you want it to like, you want him to be better than he was last year. And I thought he had a solid rookie season. But if
Nestor Aparicio 30:49
Marlon slips up, and yeah, and he doesn’t step up, then you got the Orioles pitching step.
Luke Jones 30:55
That’s when you start to have value concerns in terms of, like, how many of these guys are we paying? How many of these guys, are we walking out or letting walk out the door? And that’s why it’s important for Wiggins to look the part. It’s really important for Malachi Starks to look like look the part away. You know, I mentioned I I don’t think the Ravens want to marry a Daffy away for what he ultimately is going to get from some team. That’s just my gut. I haven’t been told that. But has he been a good draft pick? In your mind? He’s been fine, right? I mean, we have to understand. I mean, he was what the 31st overall pick? Yeah, we always, we the Ravens have done so well drafting football players that if a guy doesn’t become a multi Time Pro Bowl player as a first round pick, they’re kind of you. I think he’s been perfectly I think he’s been a perfectly fine pick, not a home run, but he hasn’t been mad. Elum either, right? All the
Nestor Aparicio 31:44
things we probably said about Mark Caicos in the middle of it, and then we’re like, man, we’d like to have us with Jared Johnson, you know what I mean, give me, you know, give me just that stout, you know, Rob Burnett, give me that guy. Give me that Mike Flynn, give me a guy that’s just here a couple of five, six years and pretty good. You know what I mean.
Luke Jones 32:00
But my point, but the point I was trying to make with with O way, who I’m guessing probably walks, I mean, I don’t know if he has 15 sacks and suddenly looks like Terrell Suggs, and we’ll have a different discussion about it, but it’s why it’s important for any of the circumstances surrounding him being drafted aside that Mike Green looks a part of, Hey, we’re going to let away go, because Mike Green’s entering year two, and he had seven sacks as a rookie, and looked really promising. You want to see that. So there’s always that cycle, right? I mean, the best team sustained, I mean, the Eagles, my gosh, they’ve drafted. Well, the ravens, my goodness, they draft well. I mean, these teams that find you know, for as much as the rams that you know leap those picks was their big thing. Go look at some of the players they drafted in the middle round. I mean, puka nakua, he’s one of the best wide receivers in football. Go look when he was drafted. I mean, he wasn’t a first or even a second or a third round pick. So you find those gems, and then that’ll let that makes an older player that you can’t afford expendable, but it keeps your talent pipeline fresh, and that’s how you that’s how you manage a roster with a 50 or $60 million quarterback, right? I mean, that’s how you manage it. Yeah, you’re going to pay your X number of guys, your true core players, and then you’re going to let your good and decent players go, and you’re going to draft new good and decent players, then a couple of those good ones become your new core players. And then a couple of those core players kind of test out. They don’t test out, but their contract, you know, they you move on from them. So that’s how this works. I mean, it’s a churn. I mean it is especially in football. I mean baseball, yeah, you might have guys that play 15 years, the guys in the NFL do that are very few and far between. So it’s kind of the, you know, your first contract guys, your your second contract guys, you might have a couple third contract guys, but you’re just, you’re cycling them in. So yeah, this is a big year, yes, for those veteran players you mentioned, but it’s a big year for Nate Wiggins, you know, to show that he can be a guy that you’re going to want to pay a couple years from now, because a couple years from now, you’re not going to have Marlon Humphrey anymore, presumably. So it’s kind of how it works. So they’ve done a great job managing that. When they have done that, I mean, that’s when they’ve been able to sustain success for several years at a time and and not really going through these down periods and these laws that so many franchises experience. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 34:23
you make yourself, you know, fedoff, they always steps up and Mike Green doesn’t, or if Mike Green steps up. But like, I think about Matt judon, I think about Paul Kruger. I think about the Darius Smith, you know, guys that got paid elsewhere doing sort of a similar job, but they never let Suggs get out, right? Well, got at the end Kansas City for five, sure, but I’m not in this property, yeah, but, but they figured out a way to keep him around. Uh, Luke is here. Um, so is Kyle Hamilton, and Luke will be around. We’ll be here in the before, during and after, all things. Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, all day, Sunday and all week. At it here as we are ready for Some Football, we have our GBMC hotline up and running at this point, our friends a Curia wellness, have sent me out to eat my favorite foods this month. It’s our 27th anniversary. Tastiness is continuing its countdown here this week, there might even be some pit beef and some donuts available this week as well. And I’m happy to have football back. And certainly we’ve done a lot of baseball here the last five months, done a lot of business politics. I did the show from Costas last week. We’ve had all sorts of political spectrum we’ve had business conversations about the state, about the country, about the state of the country, about the state of the state, as well as the state of football. So, uh, football’s back. We talking plenty of football around. Here’s what he said, You still do sports. You still do pot. What are you doing? I’m like, I do whatever we feel like doing. Get up and do but we ain’t done nothing in this football team for like, eight months, nine months, and we knew that the minute the mark, Andrews thing happened, which feels like about 100 years ago, so they cannot kick off soon enough for us to begin this journey of the 2025 NFL season. He is Luke. I am Nestor. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We’ll see you on the other side of kickoff. Stay with us. You.
