The Baltimore Ravens have spent the spring saying all the right things about Zay Flowers, and the reporting now matches the rhetoric. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic said this week he believes an extension is coming: "I think the Ravens are going to sign him to an extension. I think he has earned an extension, and I think he's going to remain a critical piece of this offense going forward."
The financial framework is already taking shape. Baltimore picked up Flowers' fifth-year option, which pays him $27.298 million in 2027, so the team controls his rights for two more seasons. But general manager Eric DeCosta has made clear he wants more than a bridge. "The goal would be to get a long-term deal with him, if we can, and I fully expect we will," DeCosta said. ESPN's Jamison Hensley projects the extension will likely average over $35 million per season — money that would place Flowers among the four highest-paid receivers in the league.
Flowers, for his part, has removed any doubt about where he stands. "I want to be here," he said. "I would love to finish my career here." Lamar Jackson called his receiver's value "out of this world" in comments relayed by ESPN.
What separates good rosters from championship ones is rarely the splash addition — it is keeping the players who make the quarterback's job easier before the market makes the decision for you. Baltimore watched Kyle Hamilton's extension come together in the window between option pickup and opening kickoff a year ago, and the Flowers situation is tracking the same arc. With the first full training camp practice set for July 29 and Jackson's own long-term contract question still unresolved, settling the receiver's future early would remove one variable from a summer that does not need more of them. The timing matters: every week closer to the season, the receiver market's ceiling becomes the floor.
For fantasy purposes, an extension would cement Flowers as the clear No. 1 target in a run-heavy offense, which matters more for dynasty rosters than redraft. His target share has never been the question — the volume ceiling of a Jackson-led passing game is. A long-term deal removes any lingering trade-speculation discount and makes Flowers a stable WR2 asset with WR1 upside in any season Baltimore is forced to throw more.
