Welcome into the lounge presented by Draft Kings. I'm Ryan Mink here with Garrett Downing,

and we have breaking news this Wednesday afternoon, Garrett. The Ravens have made their decision

on whether they are going to pick up the fifth year options of two stars. The Ravens will

be picking up that of Kyle Hamilton, but they will not be picking up

the fifth year option for Center Tyler Linderbaum. So we're going to break down those decisions

to tell you why we believe Eric DeCosta and the front office have come to those conclusions. So

first of all, the best way to know why is to hear it straight from Eric DeCostaas. So Gary, why don't you give us the quote from Eric?

Yeah, well, Eric, in the statement that he released when the Ravens announced the moves this afternoon,

here's the statement.

We are exercising the fifth year option for Kyle Hamilton with the goal of working towards a multi-year contract extension.

While we will not apply the fifth year option to Tyler Linderbaum,

it is our intention for him to remain a Baltimore Raven long term.

So basically, the Ravens think that both of these guys are cornerstone players who they view here as key pieces of this team for the long term future.

And I really think that this comes down to salary cap maneuvering and management more than it's economics.

Yes.

The desire is there.

Today's decision was an economics decision.

And really it comes down to the value of what those fifth year options are.

And just to be clear, this is for the 2026 season. So now

Kyle Hamilton will be under contract through 2025 and 2026. Tire Linderbaum is going into a

contract year in 2025, but he could get an extension beforehand. Both of them are eligible

for contract extensions at any point. That could happen

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