Giants get bad NFL free agency news on Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum
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Baltimore Ravens free agent center Tyler Linderbaum.
The Baltimore Ravens lost a lot of their best players in free agency. So many of them that you might need a spreadsheet to keep track.
They also lost whatever was left of their good reputation or good standing in NFL circles thanks to a double-dealing general manager Eric DeCosta, who pulled off 1 of the most conspicuous moves in NFL trade history when he cut a deal for Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby that created a domino effect throughout free agency … only to back out of the trade and sign free agent edge rusher Trey Hendrickson instead.
Through it all, 1 former Ravens star has ended up looking like a genius — not only from getting away from a toxic environment but for landing a record-setting free agent payday with another team in 3-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum, who exploded the market for interior offensive linemen with a 3-year, $81 million contract from the Raiders.
Less than 1 week after he agreed to his massive contract, Linderbaum is being crowned as the NFL’s “Biggest Winner” in free agency by Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon.
“Linderbaum reset the center market with an AAV that is 50 percent higher than former leader Creed Humphrey ($18 million), while the $10-million-per-year guard club saw its membership rise by 30 percent,” Gagnon wrote on Sunday. “Teams are really starting to value interior offensive linemen more heavily.”
Tyler Linderbaum’s FA Contract Shocked Experts
There was little doubt the market was going to be robust for Linderbaum — few realized how desperate teams were going to be to land an interior offensive lineman like him in his prime.
Just minutes after the NFL’s official tampering period opened on Monday, Linderbaum had agreed to a deal which made him the highest-paid NFL interior offensive lineman in NFL history.
“ESPN Sources: former Ravens free-agent center Tyler Linderbaum reached agreement today on a record deal with the Raiders, who are awarding him with a three-year, $81 million deal that includes $60 million guaranteed and makes him the highest paid interior offensive lineman in NFL history,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account. “Before today, Cowboys guard Tyler Smith was the NFL’s highest-paid interior offensive lineman, with a deal that averaged $24 million per year. Tyler Linderbaum’s deal averages $27 million per year.”
Ravens Made History in Losing Linderbaum
The Ravens actually made the wrong kind of franchise history by losing Linderbaum to the Raiders.
“With center Tyler Linderbaum going to Raiders,this marks just the second time in the Ravens’ 31-year history that they have failed to keep a multiple Pro Bowl first-round pick past his rookie deal,” ESPN’s Jamison Hensley wrote on X on Monday. “The other time this occurred was 2019 with C.J. Mosley.”
While Linderbaum’s massive deal set tongues wagging, it also might just be a case of the right player and the right team at the right time.
The Raiders possess the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, where they will almost certainly take Indiana quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.
There is perhaps no greater insurance policy the franchise could have taken out to try and protect Mendoza from harm than an elite center — the player Mendoza probably needs to be on the same page with more than anyone else on the roster to thrive.