BALTIMORE — The Ravens signed a four-year extension with All-Pro Kyle Hamilton, general manager Eric DeCosta said Wednesday afternoon. The deal is worth $100.4 million with $82 million guaranteed, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation, making the 24-year-old the highest-paid safety in the NFL.

Talks on the deal began shortly before players broke for the offseason in June, then picked up steam about three weeks ago. Hamilton said he didn’t feel rushed to put pen to paper, confident that both sides would reach an agreement before the season starts. Those conversations were constructive, Hamilton said, “for lack of a better word just not BS-ing each other.”

Hamilton still had two years left on his rookie deal after the team decided in April to pick up his fifth-year option for 2026. The team acknowledged at the time it would be a priority to keep Hamilton in Baltimore for the long term. This deal, signed 11 days before the start of the 2025 season, ties Hamilton to the Ravens through the 2030 season.

“This deal speaks to how we feel about Kyle,” DeCosta said.

Hours after it was finalized, in a news conference before Wednesday’s practice, Hamilton said his mind fluttered back to draft day in 2022, when the projected top-five prospect slipped to pick No. 14. Hamilton, who said he was “the least mad out of anybody” at the time, quickly ascended into a two-time Pro Bowl selection. He earned a first-team All-Pro nod in 2023 and second-team honors last year. For his career, he has five interceptions, seven sacks and four forced fumbles.

“I knew that I came to the right place,” Hamilton said. “Sometimes you got to see the bigger picture.”

His stretch of recording at least 10 tackles and one pass deflection in three consecutive games last season was a first for a defensive back since 2011. In 2023, Hamilton’s 10 tackles for loss bested Ed Reed for most in a single season by a Ravens defensive back. That same year he became the youngest Raven in franchise history with multiple interceptions in a single game.

All that led him to become the first Raven to be awarded the title of highest-paid since Reed’s $40 million deal in 2006.

“I think guys like Kyle and some guys that were here before Kyle, guys like Ed [Reed], per se, they pick up the defense so fast,” senior secondary coach Chuck Pagano said this week. “He’s one step ahead. And so, like ‘Eddie’, you just don’t fall into 63 or 64 interceptions and get a gold jacket, right? Everybody was like, ‘How does he do it?’ It’s preparation. Behind the scenes, Kyle prepares as good as anybody. He watches a ton of film, so he’s got almost every play kind of whittled down to one or two plays in every situation, so it gives him a chance to make plays.”

Asked what the next step in his progression might be, Hamilton didn’t hesitate. Those individual accolades look nice on a mantle but the one box he hasn’t checked is winning a Super Bowl. Hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February is the only goal in mind.

“We’re not trying to wait anymore,” he said. “I want to get greedy with that.”

DeCosta referred to Hamilton as a “unicorn” for the way he allowed Baltimore’s defense to reorganize guys in different positions last season.

In 2023, Hamilton was at his best roaming around the defense and particularly lining up closer to the line of scrimmage for a majority of his snaps. Last year’s Ravens weren’t afforded that same flexibility while spending much of the season shuffling to find a consistent back-end partner. That’s rare value at the position. The addition of first-round pick Malaki Starks and cornerback Jaime Alexander should help Baltimore’s secondary be more malleable, which plays to Hamilton’s advantage.

“Anytime you can get one of your very best players and get them to sign a long-term extension, I think it’s a great thing,” DeCosta said. He later called it “an important distinction” to be the highest-paid player at his position, one that Hamilton “has proven he’s going to carry very well.”

Hamilton vowed he didn’t want the money to change him. “I try to stay the same Kyle,” he said. Some will go toward helping his family and some will be put toward philanthropic ventures. Hamilton said he’ll probably use new earnings to buy a watch. The avid golfer might call a friend who works for Callaway to negotiate a discount on a new driver.

“Other than that,” Hamilton said, “I’m just going to put it in the piggy bank and save it for a rainy day.”

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Baltimore Sun reporter Brian Wacker contributed to this article.

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