To many, the massive contract the Baltimore Ravens just handed to Zay Flowers doesn’t make sense.
Flowers signed a 4-year, $140 million contract extension on Wednesday that included $108 million in guaranteed money — making him the 4th-highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL with $35 million in average annual salary.
“A great day for the Ravens,” coach Jesse Minter said after Tuesday’s practice. “When your best players are the right type of people, and they bring the right mentality, and everything marries together, those are the type of guys … it’s such a great thing when something like that happens to them. Nothing better as a coach than to see those guys get what they deserve.”
For many, the $140 million seemed much, much more than Flowers deserved.
“I like Zay Flowers, but not for $35 million a year,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said on Tuesday night after news of the contract broke. “That’s an insane contract.”
Zay Flowers: Not Even Top 10 NFL Wide Receiver
Through his 1st 3 seasons, Flowers is a 2-time Pro Bowler but has never earned NFL All-Pro honors.
He has consecutive 1,000-yard seasons the last 2 seasons but finished in the Top in the NFL in receiving yards just once, with 1,211 receiving yards in 2025 — 7th in the league.
He’s never finished in the Top 10 in the NFL in receiving touchdowns or receptions.
There’s also a size issue — Flowers is listed as 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds.
There’s also the issue of playing well in the clutch. Flowers is most known, at this point, for an epic playoff meltdown.
Both Bleacher Report and ESPN left Flowers off their Top 10 wide receivers in preseason position rankings.
From B/R: “Zay Flowers isn’t the traditional or prototypical No. 1 wide receiver, but he’s established himself as ‘THE GUY’ for the Baltimore Ravens. Flowers has the top-end speed and acceleration to make defensive backs rethink their approach. He’s proven to defeat bump-and-run coverage and zone coverages. He is a smaller wideout, but he knows how to play the position at a high level. Flowers is an easy target to feed the football to because of his versatile playmaking.”
Zay Flowers Other Problem: Accountability
Perhaps the most concerning issue about Flowers is his lack of accountability, which was on full display this offseason.
First, Flowers tried to blame Baltimore’s injuries last season on their practices being too physical.
Then, perhaps giving us the biggest glimpse into his thinking, he tried to rewrite history over his disastrous performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game 2 years ago.
Trailing 17-7 at the start of the 4th quarter in Baltimore, Flowers received a taunting penalty on Chiefs cornerback La’Jarius Sneed on a deep catch that brought the Ravens to Kansas City’s 10-yard line. His 15-yard penalty pushed them back to the 25-yard line.
Four plays later, Sneed stripped Flowers of the ball as he dove into the end zone to give the Chiefs the ball back. Following the fumble, Flowers cut his finger after hitting the bench in frustration — a cut that required stitches.
Kansas City eventually won the game, 17-10, and went on to win their 2nd consecutive Super Bowl.
“I had 130 (receiving yards),” Flowers said during a podcast appearance. “You feel me? We had 4 more possessions after that. We got into the red zone 2 of them possessions. You could say I (lost the game) but it just looks like that because we got to the red zone on the last possession and kicked a field goal. At 1st I was like, ‘Damn, that’s not on you cuz’ … but if you’re a winner you’re gonna say it’s on you … and you know the internet gonna blow it up like ‘Oh, if you woulda scored,’ but bro I’m like you know we had 4 or 5 more possessions after (the fumble) and that was the 1st play of the 4th quarter.
First — Flowers did not have 130 receiving yards. He had 5 receptions for 115 yards and 1 touchdown.
Second — the Ravens did not have “4 or 5 more possessions” after his fumble. They had 2 more possessions.
Finally, on a day when Flowers seemed unstoppable at times, he didn’t touch the ball again after he hurt his finger.
Ravens Called Out Over ‘Insane’ $140 Million Contract Extension