The Baltimore Ravens could lose their top free agent, Tyler Linderbaum, to an AFC rival
The Baltimore Ravens have a lot of work to do ahead of free agency.
The 2026 NFL free agency window will open in a little over a week from now, and the Ravens could be in some trouble with their top pending free agent, Tyler Linderbaum.
Baltimore could make a ton of moves to open cap space, from restructuring Lamar Jackson's contract to potentially seeking out an extension for Zay Flowers.
At the forefront of it all for the Ravens is finding a way to keep Linderbaum. The young center just completed his fourth season and has established himself as one of the best at his position.
With that being the case, Linderbaum will attract a ton of attention this free agency cycle. Many teams will be looking to snag him up, and ESPN insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano believe the Ravens could lose him.
One team Graziano listed as a threat to sign Linderbaum is the Los Angeles Chargers.
"The Chargers are looking for interior offensive line help and are a threat to sign Linderbaum (Chargers GM Joe Hortiz was in Baltimore when the Ravens drafted him)," Graziano wrote.
Graziano said the Ravens having other priorities could be a result in them losing one of the top centers in the league.
"Meanwhile, the Ravens hope they can keep free agent center Tyler Linderbaum," Graziano wrote. "But plenty of people in Indy [at the Combine] believe he will get offers that exceed $20 million per year, and that Baltimore won’t want to go that high.
"The highest-paid center in the league is Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey at $18 million per year, and while [Ravens] GM Eric DeCosta told reporters at the combine that the Ravens had made a “market-setting offer” for Linderbaum, that might not turn out to be enough. Baltimore is already looking out for upgrades at guard (it would not be a surprise to see it address that position in the first round of the draft) and now could need a new center."
The Ravens have indicated that they'll do whatever it takes to retain Linderbaum. General manager Eric DeCosta said they want to make him the highest-paid center in the league.
"We've been having conversations, we've had conversations since the end of the season," DeCosta said. "At this point in time, we've made him a market-setting deal proposal offer. Hopefully, we can get something done with him between now and the start of the new league year."
The Ravens will have some major competition for Linderbaum once free agency starts next week.