If it feels like every week, a new player resets their position group's market with a historic contract, you wouldn't be wrong. If it didn't, we'd assume you've been living under a rock. The Baltimore Ravens are no strangers to resetting the market with a new contract. Look no further than Roquan Smith's five-year, $100 million deal, making him the highest-earning linebacker in the NFL.
Well, that was two years ago. This offseason alone, the league has seen deals never known to man. Below is a table of the record-setting deals we have seen this offseason alone:
Player name | Team name | Position | Contract value |
|---|---|---|---|
Jaycee Horn | Carolina Panthers | Cornerback | four-years, $100 million |
Myles Garrett | Cleveland Browns | Defensive End | four-years, $160 million |
Ja'Marr Chase | Cincinnati Bengals | Wide Receiver | four-years, $161 million |
That's a lot of money being thrown around. It's surely a players' market. And that held true this morning because shortly after Horn's extension, the Houston Texans made their own cornerback the highest-paid (annual average value) by signing Derek Stingley Jr. to a three-year, $90 million deal. That's $30 million a season, completely resetting the cornerback market.
Well, that caught the attention of Marlon Humphrey, who gave his two cents on the matter and what an extension might look like for Baltimore's own star defensive back.
Marlon Humphrey predicts Kyle Hamilton will reset the market on his next contract
Kyle Hamilton is a do-it-all safety who can play deep, nickel corner, linebacker, and pass rusher. There seemingly is no limit to what the 24-year-old two-time All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler can do. Well, we're about to find out if he can add even more responsibility to his plate with a fun social media post.
Humphrey had fun with Stingley's extension, posting on social media he expects Hamilton to take a lot of his plate with his potential new contract:
When Kyle get 40 million a year. He’s gone be responsible for covering his man and my man. 😊
— marlonhumphrey.eth (@marlon_humphrey) March 17, 2025
Last year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Antoine Winfield Jr. the highest-paid safety in the league, signing him to a four-year, $84 million contract ($21 million annually). That was a lot of money for a safety... at the time. The funny thing about time is, it changes. Literally constantly. Expect Hamilton to smash that number.
If Humphrey were playing general manager, it sounds like he's expecting Hamilton to hit an even bigger per-season value than Stingley. He has Hamilton priced at $40 million per season. That would be utterly outrageous and not likely, but for arguably the best safety in the league, maybe it's just the new norm to expect a complete market reset.
Joke or not, Humphrey might be onto something. If Stingley is getting $30 million per year just for locking down receivers, what’s Hamilton worth when he’s covering and literally everything else? The safety market might not be as inflated as cornerback or wide receiver money, but Hamilton is a unicorn. Winfield Jr. reset the bar at $21 million per year. Hamilton is going to clear that with ease.
The real question is how ridiculous will Hamilton's number be when the ink dries?