The Opening Drive, 8/6: Flowers Speaks, Showers in Owings Mills, News and Notes
Zay takes the podium to discuss his historic extension.
After a weekend of high profile stadium practices, and a big event like the Zay Flowers extension on Tuesday, it’s natural there would be a bit of a comedown in terms of hype and excitement around Ravens camp in the following days. Still, there’s a bit to dive into today in the wake of said extension, and some other small happenings around Owings Mills that warrant some notice.
Most prominently, Flowers spoke to the media for the first time after signing his new deal (he wasn’t made available on the day of the signing), and discussed his emotions around committing to Baltimore for the long term. Outside of that, it was a quieter day of practice in the rain, a player returned to the practice field at a pivotal position for the team, and some interesting comments circulated on social media regarding Zay’s extension, and how it might affect his quarterback’s future in Baltimore.
Giving Zay his Flowers
After officially signing his extension on Tuesday, and the news making it’s way around social media, Flowers wasn’t immediately made available to the media to discuss the good news. Instead, a press conference came on Wednesday that allowed for the star wideout to discuss the extension with 24 hours’ time to digest it all.
He opened with comments that thanked the Ravens’ front office for taking a chance on him, the fans for always having his back, and with a token of appreciation to Baltimore:
(video via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic on Twitter/X)
Perhaps most interesting of Flowers’ comments were his effusive praise of Eric DeCosta and company for taking a chance on a player out of Boston College, a school that has produced some stars, but isn’t at all a prominent contender in the college football landscape. Reports during that draft cycle indicated the Ravens were hot on Flowers as early as the Senior Bowl, and the entire draft process felt like simple prelude to Baltimore picking him at 22nd overall.
It’s a great story of having a vision for a player, landing him at a good value proposition, and executing on said vision with commendable competence. And the exciting thing is, it really feels like this partnership is just getting started.
Flowers will turn just 26 at the start of this season, and now finds himself in a new offense with a renewed sense of energy percolating through the building. The architect of that new offense, Declan Doyle, made it clear how excited he is to get to work with the new $140 million man:
“He is really integral in what we are trying to do,” Doyle said, when speaking with the media following the announcement. “He has embraced all of the spots that we have put him in, and we are only continuing to grow there. You want to make sure that you are not too heavy in one area. At the same point in time, you want to make sure that your guys are touching it — the mouths that need to eat, you have to feed.”
Flowers is Lamar Jackson’s number one target on the field, and is very close with the two-time MVP off of it. With some uncertainty hanging in the air surrounding Jackson’s contract status, there’s an argument to be made that a signing like this could work in Baltimore’s favor as those talks continue.
Mike Florio of PFT has made a cottage industry out of discussing Jackson’s contract status(es) over the years, and has certainly brought in plenty of clicks to his site when sewing doubt about whether Jackson will remain in Baltimore for the long term. Interestingly enough, he speculated after Flowers signed his deal that it could work as a positive in the negotiation between Jackson and the Ravens - considering how Florio usually steers that conversation, it’s definitely something worth noting:
