Ravens make expected decisions on Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum’s fifth-year options

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Of all the decisions Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta has to make this offseason, picking up safety Kyle Hamilton’s fifth-year, $18.6 million option was one of the easiest.

Hamilton, 24, is already one of the best safeties in football. In the coming months, he’ll likely become the highest-paid safety, too. He’s a two-time All-Pro and one of the vocal leaders of the team. He’s active in the community and perennially one of the first Ravens to step forward to speak to reporters on all issues involving the team. On and off the field, Hamilton has been a face of the franchise-type performer.

By picking up his option, the Ravens have Hamilton under contract for at least two more years. But DeCosta said the goal remains to work toward a multi-year extension that will keep the star safety in Baltimore for far longer than 2026.

We are exercising the fifth-year option for safety Kyle Hamilton!

Statement from General Manager Eric DeCosta. pic.twitter.com/fTqK0ADx9c

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 30, 2025

The decision involving the fifth-year option of center Tyler Linderbaum, a fellow Baltimore 2022 first-round pick, was not as easy.

Like Hamilton, Linderbaum is one of the best players in the league at his position. He’s a two-time Pro Bowler. He’s become a leader on the team, and he’s one of the most accountable and available players in the locker room. Even with his option decision due, Linderbaum has been a fixture at the Under Armour Performance Center for workouts all offseason.

Yet, Linderbaum’s option for 2026 cost $23.4 million, well more than the average per year of the league’s highest-paid center. And primarily because of that, the Ravens announced Wednesday that they are declining the fifth-year option for Linderbaum, which technically makes him eligible to hit the free-agent market next March.

However, DeCosta made clear that the Ravens are hoping that it doesn’t come to that.

“It is our intention for him to remain a Baltimore Raven long term,” DeCosta said in a statement released by the team.

The Ravens announced the decisions Wednesday afternoon, 24 hours before the fifth-year option deadline. It, however, had become clear in recent weeks that this is the direction they’d go in, and that had nothing to do with Linderbaum’s performance on the field, where he’s been one of Baltimore’s most consistent players.

In many ways, the 25-year-old Linderbaum is a victim of his success since the fifth-year option values are impacted by Pro Bowl berths and playing time. Linderbaum has made two Pro Bowl teams on the original ballot, so the cost of his fifth-year option rises to the price of the franchise tag at his position from the previous year.

Centers, however, aren’t considered separate entities when it comes to franchise tag costs. They are grouped with both offensive tackles and offensive guards, the former being one of the league’s most lucrative positions. That means the cost of Linderbaum’s fifth-year option represents the 2025 average of the five top offensive line contracts over the previous five years. That leaves Linderbaum with the highest fifth-year option cost of any 2022 first-round pick.

To put the $23.4 million number into perspective, it is $5.4 million more than the $18 million made annually by the Kansas City Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey, who is the NFL’s highest-paid center. Linderbaum certainly belongs in the highest-paid player at his position conversation. However, the option cost is well beyond Humphrey’s deal.

Another risk of picking up Linderbaum’s option: It would have become guaranteed the second the Ravens exercised it. So if Linderbaum sustained a significant injury during the 2025 season, his salary would have already been guaranteed for 2026. Linderbaum has been a durable player, having missed only two games over three NFL seasons.

However, Linderbaum did deal with a neck injury last summer that sidelined him for a chunk of training camp. Neither the Ravens nor Linderbaum have given any indication publicly that his neck is a long-term issue, but all factors are considered in decisions of this magnitude.

The Ravens’ decision to decline the option makes plenty of sense, but it does put the pressure on DeCosta to try and reach an agreement with Linderbaum over the next 10 months. The Ravens will presumably have the franchise tag available next season if they can’t come to an agreement. They don’t want Linderbaum hitting the open market.

It would cost the Ravens just under $25 million in 2026 to use the transition franchise tag on Linderbaum, which is only slightly more than the fifth-year option price. The tag, however, can be pulled at any time while the fifth-year option is guaranteed immediately when exercised.

For his part, Linderbaum said last week that he’s not concerned with his contract.

“I’m just focused on just becoming as good of a football player as I can be for this team, just coming in here every day and putting my best foot forward, and let all the other things take care of itself,” he said after the start of the team’s offseason workout program. “I’m really not even focused on that right now. That’s why we have agents. Neil Cornrich will handle that all for me, and like I said, I’m giving my all to the team right now, and that’s my focus, and that’s how it should be.”

Linderbaum also understands he’s not the only Raven who could be in line for a new contract. The team’s priority is signing two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson to a contract extension before his salary-cap number becomes prohibitive next offseason.

Their unrestricted free-agent class next offseason also could include running back Derrick Henry; tight ends Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar; fullback Patrick Ricard; wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins; right guard Daniel Faalele; and defensive contributors Kyle Van Noy, Ar’Darius Washington and Odafe Oweh.

That will make for a busy few months for DeCosta and company.

(Photo: Tommy Gilligan / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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