Santa Claus came late this year.

The big man in red finally delivered his gift to the Ravens Flock. Baltimore signed Marcus Peters to a three-year contract extension worth $42 million. The Ravens acquired Peters mid-season via a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. Baltimore sent a fifth-round pick and inside linebacker Kenny Young in exchange for Peters, a very modest price tag considering his worth. Since joining the Ravens, Peters has notched three interceptions, two touchdowns, and a Pro Bowl nod. It’s even more modest considering the Ravens had an extra fifth-round pick the team acquired in exchange for kicker Kaare Vedvik in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to break the news.

Locking down Peters was one of Baltimore’s foremost goals heading into the offseason. As Sarah Ellison points out, the Peters extension locks the Ravens down with the core pieces of their secondary for the next few years. Marcus Peters, Tavon Young, and Earl Thomas are all under contract throughout 2022. Marlon Humphrey is under contract throughout 2021 but will be the target of an extension in the near future. Safety Chuck Clark is under contract throughout 2020.

Marcus Peters’ contract includes $32 million in guaranteed money, 76% of the entire deal. Peters will also be paid $20.5 million of the $42 million price tag in the first year, meaning he will average $10.75 million over the final two years of the extension. The Ravens likely did this to account for a few factors. The Ravens can afford to spend more money because the team will no longer be paying Joe Flacco dead cap money. According to spotrac.com, the Ravens owed Flacco $16 million in 2019, even though he was not even on the team. This money, of course, counted against the Ravens salary cap, but with Flacco off the books in 2020, Baltimore can afford to spend more. The Ravens also have Lamar Jackson on a rookie contract. The soon-to-be MVP does not command a huge salary at the moment, but will once his rookie deal is over after the 2022 season (when Marcus Peters’ contract expires). The third reason to front-load the contract is that Marlon Humphrey will command his own extension soon, as his contract expires in 2021. If the Ravens spend big on Peters in 2020, they will have more money for Humphrey in 2021 and beyond.

It is safe to say that the fanbase approves of the contract extension. Twitter is filled with excitement-filled reactions to the news. Here are just some of the best tweets so far…

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