The Ravens may be wisely moving closer to signing three core contributors to long-term contract extensions
Every NFL franchise must find its mix of veteran leaders and a young core charged with leading its football team into the future. The Baltimore Ravens do that just about as well as anyone. For every Roquan Smith, there’s a young and exciting Teddye Buchanan. One can only hope the youngster is soaking in everything the wily old vet has to tell him.
If only life were like Madden NFL’s franchise mode. Baltimore could just turn the salary cap off and sign whoever they very well please, but alas, it isn’t. The task of juggling the numbers is the responsibility of Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta.
If nothing changes between now and season’s end, DeCosta and his team will have decisions to make about their impending free agents. Veterans like Mark Andrews, Kyle Van Noy, Jaire Alexander, and Odafe Oweh come to mind, but some of the young guys’ numbers are coming up. According to an ESPN report, DeCosta and company are on top of things.
Early extension plans show the Ravens’ commitment to young core players
ESPN’s Dan Graziano recently provided an update on the expected contract negotiations of three Ravens. He visited Owing Mills on August 2nd and mentioned a few theories about the status of Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, and the recently injured Isaiah Likely.
“The Ravens are working on a few contract extensions they hope to get done by the end of this season, including Hamilton, tight end Isaiah Likely, and center Tyler Linderbaum. It doesn’t sound like anything is imminent with any of those, but don’t be surprised if you hear news on one or more of them over the next few months.”
Baltimore picked up Hamilton’s fifth-year option. They declined Linderbaum’s. The latter and Likely will both be free agents at season’s end. We’ll see what happens in light of Likely’s injury, but it would seem he has done enough to prove he’s worthy of a deal moving forward.
Hamilton and Linderbaum share four Pro Bowls and two All-Pro nominations between them, though the pair of All-Pros are attached to Hamilton’s name. To ensure the long-term success of this organization for years to come, they must be retained and preferably sooner rather than later, but everyone knows that, most notably, Eric DeCosta.