NFL insider pulls no punches when discussing the Ravens’ biggest hurdle with re-signing Tyler Linderbaum

“Very difficult to negotiate with.”

Kyle Crabbs — NFL National Writer
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Oct 13, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) and center Tyler Linderbaum (64) chest bump before the game against the Washington Commanders at M&T Bank Stadium.
Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The clock is ticking on the Baltimore Ravens, general manager Eric DeCosta and center Tyler Linderbaum.

Baltimore’s window to secure a long-term contract extension that is not influenced by the open market is rapidly squeezing shut. In just two weeks, teams across the NFL will be permitted to hold conversations with players that are set to be unrestricted free agents. That group, as of now, currently includes Linderbaum. And the Ravens’ interior offensive line could certainly use a player of his caliber long-term. But, as NFL insider Ian Rapoport highlighted on Monday, the Ravens are facing an incredibly difficult challenge in their effort to keep him.

The Ravens’ bid to extend Tyler Linderbaum is being complicated by his agent

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) and center Tyler Linderbaum (64) chest bump before the game against the Washington Commanders at M&T Bank Stadium.
Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

“Linderbaum’s interesting because he almost — not almost, he cannot get (franchise) tagged. It’s a tackle tag…not going to be that. Guards get tagged only when they’re Trey Smith and that made the guard market go crazy and everyone else was like ‘Really?’ but you had to do it, right? Linderbaum’s the top center, he’s a really good player who the Ravens should want to keep and feel like they have to keep,” said Rapoport during an interview with Gregg Rosenthal on NFL Daily.

And when Rosenthal suggested that the Ravens haven’t expressed much interest in actually keeping Linderbaum, Rapoport was quick to dispute.

“That’s not true. They didn’t fifth-year option him, but they have tried to negotiate with him. His agent is very difficult to negotiate with. Neil Cornrich is the agent and his method is basically just not responding.”

Getting a deal done while negotiating down a one-way street is a tough task, I’m sure. And perhaps the strategy from Cornrich can simply be boiled down to ensuring Linderbaum gets premiere money via the tag or pushes his client into the open market no matter what. If that’s where this story leads, it isn’t hard to envision the Ravens gracefully bowing out as they address some of the other needs on the roster and try to secure a long-term contract with Lamar Jackson.

The Ravens could have avoided this challenge by executing the fifth-year option in Linderbaum’s first-round contract last spring, but as Rapoport points out, the money from offensive line marks is defined by the top salaries, all of which are offensive tackles due to positional bucket set by the collective bargaining agreement.

So for now, the Ravens must hope that Linderbaum’s camp picks up the phone and calls them back. Otherwise the price is going to go up no matter what the Ravens offer over the next two weeks.

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