Why the Ravens have been slow to sign their 2022 draft picks

The Baltimore Ravens officially signed their top 2022 NFL Draft pick, safety Kyle Hamilton, on Tuesday to one of the largest rookie deals in franchise history.

However, even with Hamilton and fellow first-rounder Tyler Linderbaum under contract, the Ravens have been relatively slow when it’s come to signing their draft class.

At the time of writing, only six of the team’s 11 draft picks have officially inked contracts with their new team. Hamilton, Linderbaum, Travis Jones, Isaiah Likely, Damarion Williams, and Tyler Badie have all signed their contracts.

However, the likes of David Ojabo, Daniel Faalele, Jalyn Armour-Davis, Charlie Kolar, and Jordan Stout have all yet to agree to terms on their rookie deals.

And there appears to be a good reason for that.

The Ravens aren’t the only team struggling to sign their rookies

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo noted on Thursday that there has been a very noticeable lull as it pertains to teams signing their fourth-round picks, in particular.

At the time of Garafolo’s report, only 23.68 percent of all fourth-round picks had signed their rookie contracts. Compare that to the over 90 percent of every round aside from the second round (40.63 percent) and it’s easy to see a correlation.

But why is this? There’s actually a fairly straightforward reason that relates to the Houston Texans and their rookie running back Dameon Pierce.

The Texans gave Pierce, the second pick in the fourth round, an extra $25,000 over the minimum for his contract which has resulted in every agent asking for a similar bump for their clients.

A similar phenomenon has occurred with the second round as the Texans (yes, them again) gave their second-round picks more guaranteed money than previous years’ picks received, per Garafolo.

Essentially, the Texans messed things up for everyone.

Of the Ravens’ five unsigned draft picks, four of them were taken in the fourth round. The only exception is David Ojabo who was taken in the second round — both are a product of the Texans’ unprecedented generosity.

It should be noted that there aren’t expected to be any long-term ramifications and all rookies will eventually sign their contracts. This just helps explain why it’s taken so long.

The Ravena may be taking a while to sign their rookies, but just know that they aren’t alone.