OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens have signed safety Kyle Hamilton to a record-setting contract extension, sealing the deal for a defensive cornerstone who figures to be a face of the franchise through the 2020s.
Terms were not announced, but NFL Network reported the deal to be worth $100.4 million with $82 million guaranteed. At $25.1 million in average annual value, Hamilton becomes the highest-paid safety in NFL history.
In announcing the deal on Aug. 27, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta called the extension “well deserved” and described Hamilton as a “phenomenal player, phenomenal person [and] a great leader.”
DeCosta said making Hamilton the league’s highest-paid safety is “a responsibility that we don’t take lightly. We’ve had a few players over the years become the highest paid at their position, and I think when you are the highest paid, that’s an important distinction.
“I think Kyle has proven that he’s going to carry that very well,” DeCosta added, “and we expect him to continue to be an impact player on our defense for years to come.”
Hamilton, 24, called the deal “a dream come true,” and he said he had hoped to get a deal done before the season to limit any distractions.
Extending Hamilton was viewed as one of DeCosta’s top short-term priorities, and the two sides had preliminary talks this spring before ramping up discussions in the past few weeks,
Hamilton was entering the final year of his rookie four-year deal signed after the team made him the No. 14 overall pick out of Notre Dame in 2022. The team had already announced it would be picking up his fifth-year option for next season, and a four-year extension keeps Hamilton under contract through 2030.
In three years, Hamilton has already been named an All-Pro twice and has established himself as one of the best and most versatile safeties in the league.
At 6-foot-4 and 218 pounds, Hamilton doesn’t have the typical build for a safety, and that might be one reason teams shied away from him at the start of the 2022 draft. After drafting Hamilton with the 14th overall pick, DeCosta called him a top-five talent on their board and expressed shock that he was still available when the Ravens were on the clock.
In the three years since, DeCosta’s assessment has been validated, as Hamilton has developed into one of the league’s premier defensive players.
He has proved to be a physical, rangy defensive back who can drift back to free safety or wreak havoc near the line of scrimmage as a slot defender and fundamentally strong tackler.
Last season, Hamilton played in every game and ranked second on the team with a career-high 107 tackles. He also registered two sacks and one interception. Two years ago, Hamilton recorded four interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown as he came on a blitz from the slot against Cleveland.
This year, the Ravens can pair Hamilton with another first-round safety in 2025 top draft pick Malakai Starks. Defensive coordinator Zach Orr also might choose to use Hamilton in the slot, depending on matchups, or as a dime linebacker in looks with six defensive backs.
“He’s kind of a unicorn,” DeCosta said. “He can do many different things. He does them all very well. He can be used in a lot of different positions.”
Hamilton figures to be the face of the Ravens’ defense for the rest of this decade, and he is on a trajectory to elevate to the pantheon of all-time Ravens defensive greats such as Hall of Famers Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.
“I think I’m trying to carve my own path,” Hamilton said. “Obviously with those guys, I don’t think it can be replicated, what they did. They set the bar for, not only the Ravens, but the NFL, what it means to play the position that they played. I’m lucky to even be in the same breath as them. … But as of right now, it sounds cliché, but I’m worried about the Buffalo Bills.”
The Ravens open the season at Buffalo in a “Sunday Night Football” showdown on Sept. 7 in a rematch of the divisional round game that ended the Ravens’ 2024 season.
The Ravens are expected to be a contender for AFC supremacy again this season, with most of the roster returning on both sides of the ball from a team that finished 12-5 and won their second straight AFC North title.
Asked about the Ravens’ long-term prognosis given his extension, Hamilton said, “If we have [No.] 8, we have a chance. We could put whoever around him, I think we go as he goes. And I think everybody in the building kind of agrees with me. As long as he’s here, we have a chance to be lifting that trophy at the end of the year. That’s not hyperbolic at all. He’s one of the best to ever do it.”
The extension for Hamilton is the fourth major extension DeCosta has worked out since spring, after tackle Ronnie Stanley, running back Derrick Henry and wide receiver Rashod Bateman.
With Hamilton’s deal done, DeCosta can turn his focus to other extension candidates. Center Tyler Linderbaum, taken in the same first round as Hamilton, is set to become a free agent next spring after the Ravens declined to pick up his fifth-year option. The Ravens have made clear they want to keep the two-time Pro Bowl center in Baltimore.
Tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely and edge rusher Odafe Oweh are among a large group also set to hit free agency next spring.
The biggest looming order of business will be to address the contract of “8,” as Hamilton put it, quarterback Lamar Jackson. Jackson is in the third year of a five-year extension and his salary cap figure is slated to jump next spring to more than $74 million — an increase of nearly $30 million.
That cap number could make other roster moves prohibitive.
DeCosta described some negotiations as “ongoing,” but he also said, “I like to work kind of in the dark, quietly and try and get as much done as we can.”
Asked specifically about Jackson’s contract, DeCosta said, “I think it’s good to keep these kinds of things with the players and these business things as quiet as possible. That’ll continue to be the way we operate, generally speaking. I really wouldn’t want to get into any specifics in regard to any of our players in their contract negotiations right now because I think it hurts the process.”
See Also: Game Changer: Inside Ravens Safety Kyle Hamilton’s Journey To NFL
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