Safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum have been the Ravens’ best first-round duo since Hall of Famers Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis were selected in the opening round of their inaugural 1996 draft.
But general manager Eric DeCosta proceeded differently when it came to the fifth-year option decision for each 2022 first-round pick on Wednesday. While the Ravens predictably exercised Hamilton’s fully guaranteed $18.6 million option for 2026, they did not pick up Linderbaum’s option that would have cost $23.4 million. In a statement addressing the Linderbaum decision, DeCosta reiterated it remains the organization’s “intention for him to remain a Baltimore Raven long term.”
The Linderbaum call simply came down to cost since the highest-paid center in the NFL — Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey — currently makes $18 million per season. Linderbaum, 25, already making two Pro Bowls raised the cost of his fifth-year option to the same level as the franchise tag, but the league lumps all offensive linemen together in that equation, raising the cost to that of a top left tackle and not making it sensible to use the option on a center. Should the Ravens not be able to work out a long-term deal with Linderbaum by next March, they could always use the franchise tag as a last resort, which would carry a similar cost to the declined fifth-year option.
In Hamilton’s case, any long-term contract extension is expected to easily eclipse the $18.6 million option in terms of average annual value, making the decision a very easy one. The NFL’s highest-paid safety — Detroit’s Kerby Joseph — currently makes $21.25 million per season, and one would fully anticipate Hamilton, a two-time Pro Bowl safety and 2023 first-time All-Pro selection, claiming that mantra whenever he signs a new deal.
For what it’s worth, neither player expressed much urgency when asked about their long-term status at the start of Baltimore’s offseason training program last week. Linderbaum said he’s “not even focused on that right now” while Hamilton expressed patience about the timing for a new contract.
“I haven’t had too many talks about it, to be honest,” Hamilton said. “They’re busy with draft stuff and all that stuff going on. I’m not in a big rush, so if it happens, it happens — cool. And if it happens this offseason, [that’s] cool too, but I’m not in a rush to get it done necessarily.”
Hamilton and Linderbaum were the fifth pair of first-round picks made by the Ravens in the same draft, joining Ogden and Lewis, Jamal Lewis and Travis Taylor in 2000, Terrell Suggs and Kyle Boller in 2003, Hayden Hurst and Lamar Jackson in 2018, and Rashod Bateman and Odafe Oweh in 2021.
