The price the Baltimore Ravens just paid to correct GM Eric DeCosta’s offseason gamble gone horribly wrong makes it clear it wasn’t worth the trouble
The Baltimore Ravens just got serious about their Tyler Linderbaum replacement — but it comes with a hefty price.
And there you have it. The Baltimore Ravens‘ efforts to replace Tyler Linderbaum in 2026 have proven…exceedingly difficult.
So much so that Baltimore has officially ponied up for a major splash at the position. Thanks to some abrupt adversity in Philadelphia, former Eagles center Cam Jurgens is now a Baltimore Raven. And he’s a fine NFL center. But the price Ravens GM Eric DeCosta is paying to get this deal done, plus the financials attached to Jurgens, are high enough that it becomes clear. The trouble may not have been worth it all along.
Baltimore Ravens GM Eric DeCosta’s offseason gamble on a center has officially come home to roost
Jurgens will plays this season in Baltimore for the equivalent of veteran’s minimum. The Eagles paid him a hefty offseason bonus for the majority of his 2026 compensation. But he’s under contract through the end of the 2029 season and is owed between $16.5 million and $17.5 million in each of the next three seasons. His 2027 salary is fully guaranteed ($16.5 million).
But given the cost, it’s hard to imagine this being a two year rental. The Ravens are paying a costly price via draft capital to get a deal done, surrendering a 2028 second-round draft choice along with a fifth-round pick this upcoming spring. That’s the kind of price you pay for a long-term starter. After the Ravens strung things out with Tyler Linderbaum and then attempted to cobble together enough bodies at the position late in the summer, they’ve decided to go a more secure route.
The question does beg to be asked, though. Would you rather pay Cam Jurgens $52,445,000 while giving away two draft picks, including a 2028 second-round selection? Or would you rather have just paid Linderbaum more proactively to get a deal done. Linderbaum, of course, saw his money settle at $81 million across three seasons in Las Vegas. $60 million of that money was fully guaranteed.
The price point is obviously more friendly this way. Especially for a Ravens team that’s staring down a mega-contract extension with QB Lamar Jackson in the not-so-distant future. But you don’t have the same caliber of player and you’ve surrendered some major draft capital. If you knew this price was the solution, would it have changed the strategy with Linderbaum way back when? Hindsight is 20-20. But you don’t need 20-20 vision to see that the Ravens are paying a costly price for an offseason gamble gone wrong.
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