The Baltimore Ravens extended former first-round wide receiver Rashod Bateman, who is now under contract for five more seasons. After signing a two-year extension last offseason, the homegrown receiver cashes in and will stay in Baltimore till 2029 at the very least in his age-30 season.
After the post-June 6th cuts in Marcus Williams and Justin Tucker went into effect, that freed up a decent amount of cap space to make this move. Extensions of Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, Isaiah Likely, and even Lamar Jackson are likely coming next. Bateman’s deal will likely be the cheapest of the bunch, but worthy enough to get ahead of it.
Bateman Extended to 3-Year Deal, $36.75 million
Sep 22, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman (7) celebrates with Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (4) and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after catching a touchdown during the second quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn ImagesAccording to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Rashod Bateman gets $20 million guaranteed but will be locked up for under $10 million AAV (Brian McFarland of Ravens Salary Cap). That is insanely cheap, considering (according to Spotrac) the top All-Pro receivers make triple his amount, and there was interest from at least the Dallas Cowboys before they traded for George Pickens.
Although they brought in veteran DeAndre Hopkins and have another former first-round pick in Zay Flowers, Bateman’s role in Todd Monken’s offense can’t be understated. After extending Derrick Henry, keeping their deep threat was crucial and shows the belief that he will become a future All-Pro.
The 25-year-old receiver had a career season and stayed healthy in the regular season, as he had 45 catches for 756 yards and nine touchdowns. Bateman, even with their plethora of weapons now in Baltimore, could potentially hit over 50 catches and over 1,000 yards in 2025.
With Monken under wraps for the next few years, there’s no reason, besides his injury history, why he couldn’t replicate his breakout year and improve on it. The other players around him will likely get more attention, while Bateman takes the top off the defense with the deep vertical passes from Jackson.
Despite potentially more volume taken from Hopkins and Mark Andrews, along with Flowers, I think they could go more pass-heavy in the regular season with his MVP snub last year. At least in games, they are going to be heavy favorites going in, as we could have more “Jackson 5s” early this coming season.
