Wide receiver Zay Flowers agreed to a four-year, $140 million contract extension on Tuesday, but quarterback Lamar Jackson has not been able to reach common ground with the team on one of his own.
Jackson has two years left on his current deal, but is set to have a cap number north of $84 million next season and that’s made the prospect of an extension a popular talking point around Baltimore. Flowers didn’t wade into any discussion about numbers or where things stand at a Wednesday press conference, but he did make it clear that he’s hoping to see Jackson remain in town for many years to come.
“I would love for him to be my quarterback until I am done playing,” Flowers said, via the team’s website. “No matter whether it is 12 years or 13, it does not matter how long; I want him to be my quarterback, because to me, he is the best in the world.”
Jackson declined to discuss contract matters at the start of training camp and it’s unclear how close the two sides might be to a deal that would get Flowers closer to his goal of being a one-quarterback receiver for his entire career.
Ravens Clips
When the Ravens rewarded receiver Zay Flowers with a new deal that carries a new-money average of $35 million per year, plenty of other receivers surely took notice.
The most obvious raised eyebrows belong to Rams receiver Puka Nacua and Cowboys receiver George Pickens. Nacua, who’s making $5.767 million in the final year of his rookie contract, has other issues that are complicating a long-term deal. Still, with each new big-money receiver deal that’s done, the absence of one for Nacua becomes more glaring.
With Pickens, the real question is whether the Cowboys will tag him again next year. At $27.298 million for 2026, the Cowboys could hold Pickens in place for $32.75 million in 2027 — still well below the top of the market. Surely, Jerry Jones will be inclined to do that.
But it’s not just the guys who haven’t gotten paid who will take notice of the Flowers deal. Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, like Flowers, is at $35 million per year. All due respect to Flowers, he’s not Justin Jefferson.
Eventually, Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase will start to wonder whether he’s fairly paid at $40 million. Especially as more players who aren’t Ja’Marr Chase approach and pass his APY.
So, yes, the Flowers deal will make waves. The Drake London deal will make waves. Eventually, it will fuel a wave of contracts for other receivers who’ll see those deals and get ideas of their own that, given the market and the ever-increasing salary cap, are more than fair to have.
The Ravens have locked up one of their young offensive players.
Baltimore and receiver Zay Flowers have agreed to a four-year contract extension, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
The deal is worth a reported $140 million, with $108 million guaranteed.
Flowers’ deal puts him just behind Drake London in terms of average new money per year at $35 million. Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s contract leads the market at $42.15 million per year.
The No. 22 overall pick of the 2023 draft, Flowers was already under contract through 2027 after Baltimore exercised his fifth-year option in the spring.
Flowers became the first wide receiver in Ravens franchise history to be selected to the Pro Bowl in 2024. He was again selected to the Pro Bowl in 2025, having caught 86 passes for 1,211 yards with five touchdowns in 17 games.
Overall, Flowers has caught 237 passes for 3,128 yards with 14 TDs in 50 games over his three seasons. He’s also registered nine receptions for 156 yards with a touchdown in two playoff games.
The Ravens aren’t in any rush to name a starting center.
They signed Ethan Pocic just before the start of camp and he is competing with Danny Pinter and Jovaughn Gwyn as the Ravens look for a new starter in the wake of Tyler Linderbaum’s move to the Raiders in free agency. Pocic tore his Achilles last December, which head coach Jesse Minter cited as a reason why the team plans to take its time.
“I don’t know that there’s a deadline,” Minter said, via the team’s website. “One of them in the mix of the battle is coming off of an injury. That timeline may or may not be perfect for that first game. There will come a point in time where we will certainly focus on getting ready for that first game. I think a couple weeks out, that will probably shake itself out.”
Pocic has the most starting experience of the trio and we’ll find out if the extended time to compete for the job leads to him landing it before Week 1.
The Ravens lost an experienced backup offensive lineman when Hakeem Adeniji retired, but they’ve found another one to take his spot on the roster.
Jeff Zrebiec of TheAthletic.com reports that the Ravens are signing tackle Kendall Lamm. Lamm was one of three offensive linemen to work out for the team on Monday.
Lamm has played for four teams since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He spent the last four seasons in Miami and started 16 of the 46 games that he played for the Dolphins. Lamm has also played for the Titans, Browns and Texans.
The NFL’s daily transaction report shows that Jake Curhan and Nicholas Petit-Frere also worked out for the Ravens.
Veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell is on the field at Ravens camp for the first time this summer on Monday.
Campbell was not placed on any injury list to open camp, but the team gave him time off to open camp as he worked his way back from a family tragedy. Campbell’s mother was killed in late June and his brother was arrested for murder on July 1.
“From a preparation standpoint, that took up a lot of his time and his mental focus and energy. . . . We’re here for Calais, to get ready at the rate he can get ready at,” Ravens head coach Jesse Minter said last week, via the team’s website. “It’s different than a 25-year-old that played only a year or two. This guy’s got so many banked reps of experience of getting himself ready in camp. We’re going to work with Calais to have a great plan, to have him ready for September, December, January and February.”
Campbell wasn’t the only Ravens defensive lineman making his first appearance of the summer. John Jenkins is off the physically unable to perform list and practicing with the team as well.
Hakeem Adeniji will not be providing the Ravens with offensive line depth this season.
The team announced on Monday morning that Adeniji has been placed on the reserve/retired list. Adeniji signed with the Ravens a little over a week ago, but he has decided against continuing his NFL career.
Adeniji was a Bengals sixth-round pick in 2020 and he started 15 of the 39 regular season games he played over three years with the team. He also made seven starts in the postseason.
Adeniji, who saw action at both guard and tackle, moved on to the Vikings in 2024 and the Cowboys in 2025. He played 16 games and made one start in those stops.
Yes, receiver DeAndre Hopkins has taken a coaching job at Georgia Tech. No, he hasn’t closed the door on playing in 2026.
“I haven’t retired from the NFL,” Hopkins posted Saturday on Twitter, via Andy Backstrom of Yahoo Sports. “But if you’re a WR and you want to be great, come to Georgia Tech football.”
Hopkins, 34, is keeping himself busy as he waits for another opportunity.
“DeAndre is one of the greatest receivers of all time, but his value to our program goes far beyond that,” Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key said in the statement announcing Hopkins’s arrival. “He has an exceptional knowledge of what we’re doing on offense due to his long relationship with [offensive coordinator] George Godsey and strong familiarity with the ACC, but, most importantly, he’s a leader of men that I’m very excited for our players to be around, on and off the field.”
Hopkins, who spent time working with the Patriots’ coaching staff early in camp, would prefer not to be around, if that means continuing to play. For now, opportunity hasn’t knocked. Hopkins wants the league to know that, even as he works as a coach, he’s ready to keep playing.
A first-round pick in 2013, Hopkins spent seven seasons with the Texans and three with the Cardinals before splitting 2024 between the Titans and Chiefs. He played for the Ravens in 2025.
He has 1,006 career catches, 13,295 receiving yards, and 85 touchdowns. And he’s clearly interested in adding to those numbers during what would be a 14th NFL season.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is in a new offense this season and one of the changes he’s adapting to this summer concerns where he’s lining up.
Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle has Jackson taking snaps under center more often than he has in the past and Jackson was asked about his comfort level with that shift from past seasons.
“I am extremely comfortable with it,” Jackson said, via a transcript from the team. “In youth football I was under center – I haven’t been consistently under center since youth football. We did it here and there in the past, but with this balanced type of offense, I feel like it will help us out a lot – identifying the defense, really keeping the defense on their toes.”
There have been other tweaks to the offense since Doyle was hired and Jackson said there have been “no difficulties” adjusting to what he’s being asked to do in this system. The Ravens will need that to continue into the fall for their 2026 season to end in a better place than they did last year.
After spending some time with the Patriots during training camp, DeAndre Hopkins has found a more permanent job in coaching.
Per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Georgia Tech is expected to hire Hopkins as a member of the program’s offensive staff.
After departing New England’s training camp, Hopkins has spent time this week visiting with the team.
George Godsey, Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator, was previously Hopkins’ OC with the Texans from 2015-2016. Godsey was also on last year’s Ravens staff as tight ends coach when Hopkins was with Baltimore.
If this is indeed the end for Hopkins as an NFL player, he’ll finish with 1,006 receptions for 13,295 yards with 85 touchdowns in 195 games over 13 seasons. He had 22 catches for 330 yards with two TDs with the Ravens last year.
