Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman said last year that his contract extension had caught him by surprise. This time, he said, the extension was more expected and more gratifying, since he was coming off the best season of his career. It was also significantly larger.
The team on June 5 announced an extension with their 2021 first-round pick, and while terms were not disclosed, NFL Network reported the deal to be worth three years and $36.75 million, with $20 million guaranteed.
That comes on top of a previous extension that Bateman had signed before last season, meaning he is now under contract through 2029.
Speaking after the team’s OTA session June 5, Bateman said that he had been negotiating with the team since the end of last season, which was the best of Bateman’s career.
“We had some good, transparent dialogue throughout this whole process,” Bateman said. “So they were honest with me [and] I was honest with them, and here we are today.”
An extension for Bateman through the end of the 2020s would have seemed improbable two years ago, when Bateman’s career was languishing because of injuries. Fans were ready to declare the first-round pick a bust after he missed 16 of 34 games in his first two seasons. Bateman took to social media at times to express his frustration, at one point lashing out at a comment made by general manager Eric DeCosta that Bateman perceived to be a criticism of the receiver group.
Publicly, though, DeCosta consistently championed the receiver and insisted that when healthy, he could be a major part of the Ravens’ offense. Bateman has always been viewed as a crisp route-runner who consistently gets open, with big-play potential on every snap.
This past season, that came to fruition, as Bateman played in all 17 games and finished with 45 catches for a career-high 756 yards. He also scored nine touchdowns after totaling just four in his first three seasons, and he ranked third in the league with 16.8 yards per catch.
Bateman said signing an extension coming off that season carried a sense of validation.
“I feel like I finally did something on the field that was impressive and something that you can respect and stand on,” he said, adding that the team-friendly, two-year, $12.8 million extension that Bateman signed last season had caught him by surprise. “I had some ups and downs here and there,” he said, “so to be able to be here now feels good.”
The Bateman extension, while not pressing, takes one looming contract issue off the plate of DeCosta, who has plenty of others to deal with. Those include center Tyler Linderbaum, safety Kyle Hamilton, outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, tight ends Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews, and receiver Zay Flowers. Plus, quarterback Lamar Jackson’s cap number soars to more than $74 million next season, so reworking that deal is a certainty.
The average annual value of about $12.25 million in Bateman’s new extension doesn’t rank in the top 25 of NFL receivers, according to OverTheCap.com, which tracks player contracts. But it’s a well-earned raise for Bateman and could look like a bargain for the team if Bateman continues to produce as he did last year.
Bateman said he always wanted to stay in Baltimore, and the extension “just made sense for both of us. … I’m happy to be here, blessed and fortunate, so we’ll keep chasing the Super Bowl.”
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