Pound for pound, there might not be a more complete football player in the NFL right now than Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton.
It’s almost time for his team to pay him like it.
Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti predicts Hamilton and the Ravens could be headed toward a “last minute extension” that would make him the highest paid player at his position — a deal estimated to be worth in the range of 4 years, $86 million and would pay him approximately $21.5 million per year.
“Extension-eligible for the first time this summer, Hamilton resetting the safety market isn’t a matter of if — it’s when,” Ginnitti wrote. “He checks every box on and off the field.”
Hamilton heads into 2025 as the premiere player at his position after earning NFL All-Pro honors in 2023 and 2024. He’s also a 2-time Pro Bowler.
The 2022 first round pick (No. 14 overall) out of Notre Dame is in the final season of his 4-year, $16.25 million rookie contract. Baltimore exercised the fifth year option on his contract for 2026 on April 20, which would pay him $18.6 million next season.
Ravens Get Generational Talent in Hamilton
Longtime Ravens fans have seen a generational talent at safety before. Perhaps the greatest NFL safety of all time after San Francisco 49ers legend Ronnie Lott was Ravens safety and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed.
In 10 seasons with the Ravens from 2002 to 2012, Reed was an 8-time NFL All-Pro, 9-time Pro Bowler and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2004. In his final season with the Ravens he helped lead his team to a Super Bowl win.
Getting Hamilton one decade later must feel like symmetry, although it’s a Super Bowl win that’s proven the most elusive to this current group of Ravens, led by 2-time NFL MVP and quarterback Lamar Jackson.
It’s going to be that same type of pressure in 2025 as the Ravens enter the season as co-favorites to win the Super Bowl.
From ESPN: “The Philadelphia Eagles put an end to the Kansas City Chiefs‘ bid for a third straight championship and enter the 2025 NFL season as co-favorites to win Super Bowl 60 (+650). The Baltimore Ravens also sit at +650. Philadelphia and Kansas City had been tied at the top of the odds at 6-1 earlier in the offseason, but the Chiefs are now the fourth choice at +750, just behind the Buffalo Bills, who are 7-1 to lift the Lombardi Trophy.”
Hamilton Voted NFL’s Top Safety in Preseason Poll
The rest of the NFL showed Hamilton what they thought of him when a group of executives, coaches and insiders voted him the No. 1 safety in the NFL in ESPN’s annual preseason position rankings.
Hamilton was No. 2 behind Tampa Bay safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in the 2024 preseason rankings. He is also still only 24 years old.
“(Hamilton) can line up all over the field, from free safety to ‘star’ linebacker,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote. “He played 200 snaps in 2024 ‘from the slot’ as an overhang defender. He is one of five players over the past two seasons with 15 pass breakups, five interceptions and multiple forced fumbles.”
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