If the New York Giants are going to sign Tyler Linderbaum in free agency, they are going to have to hurdle over a number of teams to get the Baltimore Ravens center to make that happen.
The retirement of Chicago Bears center Dave Dalman on Tuesday at age 27 has added another contending team to a growing list of potential suitors for Linderbaum, a three-time Pro Bowler in four seasons who will be 26 during the upcoming season.
Who else is on that list?
Let’s examine the competition. There might be more teams involved than the ones
listed below, but these are the obvious ones.
Baltimore Ravens
That, of course, is Linderbaum’s current team. Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta said at the NFL Scouting Combine that the Ravens had made Linderbaum a “market-setting offer.”
Creed Humphrey of the Kansas City Chiefs is currently the league’s highest-paid center, averaging $18 million per year. The belief is that Linderbaum will get offers of more than $20 million annually, and that the Ravens won’t want to compete at that price.
Detroit Lions
The Lions had a disappointing 2025 season, but are considered a contending team. Detroit just released veteran starting center Graham Glasgow.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated thinks the Lions might take a “big swing” at Linderbaum.
“I’d expect the acquisition of (Juice) Scruggs to be the first one in a little bit of an offensive line reworking. Detroit’s identity was built through that position group through Dan Campbell’s first four years, and fell off a bit last year. To get it back to where it was, I wouldn’t rule out a big swing by Detroit, maybe on someone such as Ravens free-agent center Tyler Linderbaum.”
Jeremy Reisman of SB Nation’s Pride of Detroit thinks the Lions will be “interested,” but won’t be “willing to pay what it will require” to sign Linderbaum.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers, coached by John Harbaugh’s brother, Jim, recently lost starting center Bradley Bozeman to retirement. Los Angeles lived through a 2025 season derailed largely by injuries to critical offensive linemen. We know what the Harbaugh philosophy is, and the Chargers won’t want that to happen again.
The Chargers currently have more than $84 million in cap space, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they plan to use some of it to make a major bid for Linderbaum. Especial since Los Angeles GM Joe Hortiz was in the Baltimore front office when the Ravens drafted Linderbaum.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans are reportedly planning to sign a veteran center. They have a league-high $93 million in cap space, so they are positioned to make a run at Linderbaum if they choose to.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders have $88 million in cap space and a desire to have a player like Linderbaum lining up in front of likely No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.
Would Linderbaum prefer a rebuilding team like the Raiders over a team coached by John Harbaugh?
Cleveland Browns
The Browns are now coached by former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who obviously knows how valuable Linderbaum can be. The problem for Cleveland is that the Browns are currently $16 million over the cap, so it is debatable that they can clear enough cap space to get into the Linderbaum sweepstakes.
So, will the Giants pony up?
Linderbaum is a better player on the field than John Michael Schmitz and is considered a culture-setter familiar with how Harbaugh wants things done. Of course the Giants should be involved in the Linderbaum Sweepstakes.
Could there be a price tag they are not willing to go to? Certainly. Linderbaum is almost certainly going to get record-setting money for a center. Structuring a Linderbaum contract the Giants can afford will be a challenge for new Giants executive Dawn Aponte, whose responsibilities include the salary cap and contract negotiation.
There is no guarantee the Giants will sign Linderbaum. I think it is pretty clear, though, that they are going to try.
