Will the Ravens Exercise the Fifth-Year Option on a Two-Time Pro Bowl WR in 2026?
On April 27th, 2023, the Baltimore Ravens selected Boston College WR Zay Flowers with the 22nd overall pick. Flowers was the third of four receivers to be selected in the first round of that draft, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba selected at 20, Quentin Johnston at 21, and Jordan Addison at 23. The four receivers all became eligible for extensions after the end of the 2025 NFL Season, with JSN being the lone pass catcher to receive an extension and Addison receiving the option. Flowers and Johnston are not locks to receive an extension in this offseason, but the deadline for their fifth-year option is quickly approaching. Without an accepted option, the two receivers would need an extension or would test the market after the 2026 NFL Season. Will the Ravens use the option on their star WR and potentially extend him, or let him walk to a new team?
Zay Flowers immediately made an impact on the Baltimore Ravens’ offense, led by Lamar Jackson. The former Boston College WR broke franchise records with most receptions as a rookie with 77, and most receiving yards as a rookie with 858 yards, adding six total touchdowns. The Fort Lauderdale native came into 2024 with a grudge, as his goal-line fumble was a leading factor in the Ravens’ AFC Championship loss to the eventual champions from Kansas City. Flowers recorded more targets for fewer receptions than in his rookie year, but ended up with his first 1,000-yard season and his first Pro Bowl nomination. Zay would be the first Pro Bowl WR to be drafted by the Ravens. In 2025, Zay continued to put in the work, but the Ravens’ offense was not as dominant, struggling to hold leads, convert on crucial third-downs, and finish red-zone drives. Despite injuries to Lamar Jackson, Flowers put up career-highs in targets, receptions, and yards with 118, 86, and 1,211, respectively. Flowers’ 1,211 yards from 2025 is a franchise record for a wide receiver, but is 150 yards shy of the all-time single-season receiving record, currently held by Baltimore receiving triple crown tight end Mark Andrews.
The fifth-year option is a tricky thing that franchises must deal with. It gives organizations an extra year to negotiate a long-term extension, but if it is not financially viable, then teams will opt out and take their chances, negotiating with the star and his agent for the next 10 months. The easiest way to explain how to determine if the option is financially viable is to understand how the Ravens handled it last year, with 2022 first-round draft picks, safety Kyle Hamilton, and center Tyler Linderbaum. Both Hamilton and Linderbaum made the Pro Bowl more than once, upgrading their fifth-year option tier to the highest level. This would make the option equal to a non-exclusive franchise tag from the previous season at the respective position. The non-exclusive franchise tag is a one-year tender that pays the player the larger amount of either 120% of the player's salary from the year prior, or the average of the top-five cap hits at that position over the last five years.
Luckily, overthecap.com calculated the numbers so you don’t have to. The accepted option cap hit for Hamilton last year was $18.6 million, which ranked eighth in total safety cap hit. On the other hand, the declined option cap hit for Linderbaum, which has all linemen grouped as one, would have been $23.4 million, earning the former Iowa Hawkeye almost five million dollars more than Creed Humphrey, who, at the time, was the highest-paid center in the NFL. Fast forward to March 2026, the Ravens failed to extend Linderbaum, and the three-time Pro Bowl center signed a three-year deal worth $81 million, averaging $27 million per year, almost $10 million more than Humphrey and four million more than the declined option. The Ravens probably wished they had just paid the $23 million, but hindsight is 20/20, and there are no do-overs in the NFL; teams just have to move on. To make fans feel better, at least the Ravens signed Hamilton to a long-term extension, keeping him as a focal point in the defense.
As for the case of two-time Pro Bowl WR Zay Flowers, his fifth-year option would be $27.3 million, which is tied for 15th at the position. It seems like a great idea to accept the option, considering Flowers would make less than 14 other receivers, but it causes a second problem: A 2028 offseason extension rather than a 2027 one. The way that the contract market works, each player who is due for a new contract expects to become the highest-paid player at their position. In terms of total contract value of $168.6 million and average pay per year of $42.15 million, fellow 2023 first-round receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba signed a four-year extension to make him the highest-paid WR in the NFL. Granted, JSN was on pace to break 2,000 receiving yards, won the 2025 AP Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl LX, so he rightfully deserves to be paid at the top of his position.
While Flowers is a two-time Pro Bowler and a consecutive 1,000-yard receiver, he is well short of the accolades that earned JSN his contract. Unfortunately, due to how the market works, the Ravens would have to at least get close to that number to avoid disrespecting a true open-field playmaker. At least if they try to match or get close to the numbers of Amon-Ra St. Brown’s 2024 AAV of $30 million, he would still be in the top 10 in average salary per year at the wide receiver position. If the Ravens were to use the option on Flowers and wait too long, then Baltimore would be forced to somehow make a similar deal to Drake London, George Pickens, and even Chris Olave. No one truly knows what will happen by next March, so it is hard to say what the Ravens should do before the May 1st option deadline. It is also no secret that Flowers, who will be 26 at the beginning of the season, is the best receiver the Ravens have ever drafted and the best Ravens receiver overall in recent history. The problem lies not in Zay Flowers' potential and his desire to remain in Baltimore, but rather in the NFL salary market trends and who the Ravens need to pay in the coming years to remain a contender in Lamar Jackson’s prime.
