Since drafting Lamar Jackson in 2018, the Baltimore Ravens have cycled through wide receivers without ever finding one who could anchor the position. The franchise had never even sent a wideout to the Pro Bowl until Zay Flowers broke through in his second year.
Now entering his fourth NFL season, the 22nd overall pick from the 2023 draft has posted back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns and earned two Pro Bowl selections, establishing himself as the closest thing to a true No. 1 receiver Jackson has ever had. That production has put Flowers in line for a lucrative extension, and general manager Eric DeCosta gave an update on his future.
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During a recent interview on “105.7 The Fan,” DeCosta revealed that Baltimore intends to get a deal done with Flowers.
“I love Zay. Zay wants to be here. We want Zay here,” DeCosta said. “We’ve had good conversations… Certainly a work in progress; optimistic about it. I feel like at some point it gets done.”
Flowers posted career highs across the board in 2025, finishing with 86 receptions for 1,211 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 14.1 yards per catch. According to PFN’s WR Impact Metric, he posted an impact score of 80.6 last season, ranking ninth in the league.
Baltimore already picked up his fifth-year option in April, keeping him under contract through 2027 at $27.3 million, but DeCosta’s comments indicate that the Ravens want to keep Flowers on the team for years to come.
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Flowers’ importance to the offense has only grown this offseason. Isaiah Likely departed in free agency, signing a three-year, $40 million deal with the New York Giants. Mark Andrews, now entering his age-31 season, saw a significant drop in production last year.
Those departures leave Flowers as the unquestioned focal point of the passing game and place him in a mentorship role alongside rookies Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt, both drafted in the third and fourth rounds this spring to address the team’s depth issues at the position.
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However, the Ravens need to get the deal done quickly because the longer they wait, the more expensive Flowers becomes. Jaxon Smith-Njigba reset the wide receiver market with a four-year, $168.6 million extension from the Seahawks, in which his annual average salary is $42.15 million. Flowers won’t cost that much, but he will demand a deal closer to the mark of $35 million per year.
Given that the Ravens also need to sort out Jackson’s contract situation, locking up his top target could help in the negotiations.
Under first-year head coach Jesse Minter, the Ravens are entering a new chapter, and players like Jackson, Flowers, Kyle Hamilton, and Roquan Smith form a core that can lead the team to a Super Bowl.
