Chargers’ Free Agency Plan Explodes After Ravens News at NFL Combine

Going into the NFL combine, it was obvious the Los Angeles Chargers would be all over free-agent center Tyler Linderbaum.

Turns out the Baltimore Ravens have other plans.

Speaking with reporters at the NFL combine, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta opened up about how talks have been going with Linderbaum.

"Tyler's a guy I have tremendous respect for,” DeCosta told reporters. “Obviously, he's proven to be, in my opinion, the best center in the league. We've been having conversations. We've had conversations since the end of the season. At this point in time, we've made him a market-setting offer and hopefully we can get something done with him between now and the start of the new league year."

Key words there? A “market-setting offer.”

Prior reporting made it sound like the Ravens wouldn’t have an interest in paying those rates to keep Linderbaum. But if they’re already at the top of the market, pushing it a bit more probably wouldn’t be an issue.

Maybe former Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter arriving as head coach changed things…

Chargers’ free-agency plans without Tyler Linderbaum

What are the Chargers to do?

It’s not like the Chargers can’t afford Linderbaum. His market value at Spotrac is four years, roughly $71 million at $17.7 million average annual value.

The Chargers could comfortably go north of that while sitting on $87 million in cap space. They have some major cut candidates that could clear more cap space, not to mention possible contract restructures, too.

Jesse Minter echoed Eric DeCosta’s belief that Tyler Linderbaum is the NFL’s best center.

They want him back in Baltimore but have to be respectful of the free-agency process, if negotiations get there. pic.twitter.com/88j7U1TO9L
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) February 24, 2026

One route is looking at a tier below in free agency. Connor McGovern from the Buffalo Bills could be there and just ranked 15th out of 40 centers at PFF.

The other option is the first two rounds of the draft, considering they need a starter now. That’s a little trickier, especially when they need to replace both guard spots, too.

After all, Zion Johnson is a free agent at one guard spot and Mekhi Becton is the Chargers’ top cut candidate at the other.

On top of all this, the Chargers need to rethink the inside of the line around what Mike McDaniel wants to do schematically.

No easy task, but losing out on a chance at Linderbaum through the sudden vibe changes coming from Baltimore isn’t a great start for the Chargers.

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