Rashod Bateman signed a three-year, 36.75 million (12.25 million a year) contract extension this morning. The extension will be tacked on to the two remaining years of his existing deal, making this effectively a five-year contract worth 47.5 million (9.5 million dollars per year).
Ravens Lock Up Rashod Bateman With 5-Year Deal
For a player who has only started 35 games in his career, this certainly seems like a good deal for the 25-year-old who is now set to play for the Ravens into his (very early) thirties. His numbers suggest that this might be a steal of a contract for the Ravens, though. Last year was his first year fully healthy in the league, and the former Minnesota Gopher took full advantage and solidified himself as a solid number-two option, racking up 756 yards and nine touchdowns on 45 catches and 72 targets.
If that usage goes up to around 100 targets (a solid number for a number two receiver), we could see him cross into the 1000-yard and 10-touchdown receiving category—a club that only included six receivers last year (Chase, Jefferson, Brian Thomas, Amon-Ra, Terry McLaurin, and Mike Evans).
If the Ravens can have a player who puts up numbers like that on a contract that averages less than 10 million dollars, they will look like geniuses. The problem with Bateman is whether he can stay healthy.
Bateman’s Breakout & Injury History Raise Big Questions
In his rookie season, Bateman suffered a groin injury that sidelined him for five weeks. In his second year, he injured his foot in week 8 and suffered a season-ending injury that required repair. In 2023, he suffered from hamstring issues that plagued him throughout the season, but he only missed one game. Last year, he was finally healthy and was able to carve out a role as the primary deep threat in the offense.
Bateman is a young, solid receiver with gobs of potential and a high likelihood of developing into an even better player in the years to come. This deal may end up blowing up in the Ravens’ face if the injury concerns continue, but it’s a fairly low-risk-high-reward bet that the Ravens are making here, and I have a feeling many teams are wishing they could lock up a player like that to a five-year 47.5 million dollar deal, heck some teams would’ve offered 5-years 70 million to get a player like him.
Veterans with similar deals are Darius Slayton, Jakobi Meyers, Josh Palmer, Dyami Brown, Tutu Atwell, Adam Thielen, and Curtis Samuel.
Why This Contract Could Be A Massive Win For Baltimore
If Bateman continues his upward trajectory, he will outpace and outperform those guys by a long shot and likely regret this deal. However, it’s possible he ends up like a Darius Slayton-type player with deep ball potential and high-mid-tier numbers but never fully develops into a star. In fact, Bateman’s 2024 season matches Slayton’s 2019 rookie season almost to a T.
It’s also possible that injuries or a lack of touches hampers his development, and he ends up closer to the Dyami Brown or Tutu Atwell side of the list, in which case, he’d be ecstatic to earn over 12 million a year in the last few years of his contract.
I personally think that he’s on track to have an excellent career and potentially be a Pro Bowl player in the near future, so I love this deal for the Ravens. I think they absolutely fleeced Bateman in negotiations; he should have waited and seen what the market looked like in two years. It’s possible that even low-end receivers will be making 10 million dollars a year by then. He might want to consider getting a new agent, because if he plays like I think he will in the next few years, this will seem like one of the most team-friendly deals in the league.
