With the start of free agency just two weeks away, the Ravens are still trying to re-sign Tyler Linderbaum, but it remains to be seen whether the three-time Pro Bowl center will remain in Baltimore.
Speaking to reporters at the scouting combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday, general manager Eric DeCosta said he’s made “a market-setting offer” to Linderbaum, who’s widely regarded as one of the NFL’s top five overall free agents. Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey is currently the highest-paid center in the league at $18 million per season, but that four-year, $72 million contract was signed prior to the 2024 campaign and the salary cap has increased by roughly $50 million since then.
In other words, one would assume the need for the Ravens to eclipse that average annual value definitively to keep the 2022 first-round pick out of Iowa from hitting the open market where other teams like John Harbaugh’s New York Giants could be ready to pounce.
“Tyler’s a guy that I have tremendous respect for. Obviously, he’s proven to be, in my opinion, the best center in the league,” DeCosta said. “We’ve been having conversations. We’ve had conversations since the end of the season. At this point in time, we’ve made him a market-setting offer. Hopefully, we can get something done with him between now and the start of the new league year.”
DeCosta confirmed it’s unlikely that the Ravens would apply the franchise or transition tag to keep Linderbaum from becoming an unrestricted free agent, but that’s not surprising considering those figures are calculated based on all offensive linemen rather than just centers, which inflates the price substantially. The franchise tag for an offensive lineman is projected to cost just south of $28 million for 2026. That grouping together of all offensive linemen is also why the Ravens declined to exercise Linderbaum’s fifth-year option last spring, which would have cost $23.4 million for 2026.
There’s also the question of just how far the Ravens should go to keep Linderbaum, who is regarded as an elite run blocker and less consistent in pass protection. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus graded Linderbaum fourth overall among centers last season and 20th in pass blocking out of 37 qualified centers.
It’s fair to note that Linderbaum was flanked by two below-average starting guards last season, which certainly made his job more difficult. And considering the Ravens are already seeking upgrades at both guard spots, the possibility of losing a top-shelf center in free agency would make the rebuilding of the interior offensive line a Herculean task for one offseason.
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New head coach Jesse Minter called Linderbaum “a major part of the team” and “somebody we’d love to have back.”
“It’s a guy that certainly can control a lot of the communication with the offensive line, see fronts, help the quarterback,” said Minter about the value of a good center. “Those guys can work in tandem sometimes in seeing blitzes, protections, run schemes. In any offense, I would say that’s a major position.”
The 6-foot-2, 305-pound Linderbaum has started every game of his NFL career and missed just two contests over his first four seasons.
