Three years ago, the Ravens drafted safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum with high expectations.

“I think we’re all thrilled we got, in our opinion, the very two best players at their positions,” general manager Eric DeCosta said after the Ravens double-dipped in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft.

With Hamilton and Linderbaum emerging as perennial Pro Bowl picks who are soon eligible for contract extensions, the Ravens now may have to pay them like they’re the best player at their positions.

DeCosta declined to comment Tuesday on whether the Ravens would exercise their fifth-year options for 2026 ahead of the NFL’s May 1 deadline. Hamilton’s option is worth a projected $18.6 million, according to Over The Cap, while Linderbaum’s is worth $23.4 million.

As the Ravens’ voluntary offseason conditioning program kicked off Monday, Hamilton and Linderbaum said they weren’t worried about where they stood.

“Haven’t had too many talks about it, to be honest,” Hamilton said of a potential contract extension. The Ravens’ front office is “busy — draft staff and all that stuff going on — and I’m not in a big rush. So if it happens, it happens, cool. And if it happens this offseason, cool, too, but I’m not in a rush to get it done necessarily."

A deal for Hamilton, a two-time All-Pro, would likely surpass the total value of Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield’s four-year, $84.1 million extension, which he signed last year. Hamilton said he would prefer to have clarity on his contract situation before the 2025 season starts.

“I don’t really worry about outside stuff during the season,” he said. “That’s been since high school, honestly, whatever it may be. And this is obviously a different beast, but I kind of just want to be able to play football and focus on that. And if that stuff is going on during the season, then that’s what I have agents for. So they’ll do a good job with that. But that’s such a hypothetical at this point that I’ll just cross that bridge when I get there.”

Linderbaum, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, said he’d had “no conversations” with the Ravens’ front office about his fifth-year option or a potential extension. Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey, a three-time Pro Bowler, signed a four-year extension last year worth $72 million.

“I’m just focused on just becoming as good of a football player as I can be for this team,” Linderbaum said. “Just coming in here every day and putting my best foot forward and let all the other things take care of itself.”

The Ravens’ contract negotiations with Hamilton and Linderbaum could hinge on their success in reworking quarterback Lamar Jackson’s deal. Jackson has a $43.5 million salary cap hit this year, but it’s set to jump to $74.5 million in 2026 and 2027, which would limit their ability to extend players.

“You just have to kind of manage that dance — the salary cap dance — and Lamar is the main part of that, because he’s the franchise player," coach John Harbaugh said last month. An extension is “a possibility. Sooner or later, that’s definitely going to have to happen.”