One conversation that’s all but faded into oblivion around the Baltimore Ravens is whether the team should have spent big on 2-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers, whom they made one of the NFL’s highest-paid players with a 4-year, $140 million contract extension on August 5.
Flowers has spent the 1st month of the regular season showing he’s worth the dough, and ESPN’s Ben Solak thinks he’s on pace to win NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
In 2003, running back Jamal Lewis became the 1st and so far only player in Ravens history to be named NFL OPOY after he became just the 5th running back in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season.
“I might think … Zay Flowers will win Offensive Player of the Year,” Solak wrote on October 6. “For the four quarters of the season that a healthy Lamar Jackson and healthy Flowers have played together, Flowers has 13 receptions for 269 yards on just 31 routes. Flowers is seventh in total receiving yards (352) and 251st in total routes run (56) in the NFL. These are numbers even beyond Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s current pace. If only Jackson and Flowers could stay on the field next to each other.”
Smith-Njigba won NFL OPOY honors in 2025 after finishing with 119 receptions for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns in the regular season — then capped it off by winning his 1st Super Bowl.
Jackson, Flowers Both Struggling With Injury Issues
Jackson is nursing an ankle injury that could keep him off the field in a Week 5 Sunday Night Football game against the resurgent Atlanta Falcons.
Flowers has already missed a game this season — a Week 2 upset loss to the New Orleans Saints after he hurt his hamstring and missed the entire second half of a Week 1 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
“With Lamar Jackson potentially likely to miss the next 1 to 3 games there will be a significant drop in the Ravens offensive passing production with Tyler Huntley in at QB,” Dr. Jesse Morse wrote on his official X account. “Think (less than) 170 passing yards. Lots of QB rushing yards though … BAD for Zay Flowers. His upside is capped without Lamar, so he’s likely more of a WR2, as opposed to a smash-spot WR1.”
“Zay Flowers has been Baltimore’s most consistent weapon all season,” Football Performances wrote on its official X account on October 4. “Flowers could be a huge part of whether Baltimore gets back to the postseason this year.”
Ravens Called ‘Insane’ for Paying Flowers $140M
For many, $140 million seemed far 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.”
Through his 1st 3 seasons, Flowers is a 2-time Pro Bowler but has never earned NFL All-Pro honors.
He has had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in 2024 and 2025 but finished in the top of the NFL in receiving yards just once, with 1,211 receiving yards in 2025 — 7th in the league. He’s also never finished in the NFL’s top 10 in receiving touchdowns or receptions.
Ravens WR Zay Flowers on Pace for Incredible NFL Honor