NFL Insider Provides Interesting Update About Potential Giants Free Agent Target

NFL free agency kicks off in just under a month, at which time the New York Giants are expected to dive into the veteran market to upgrade various position units on the team.

Growing speculation has it that the Giants are going to look to land pending unrestricted free agent center Tyler Linderbaum from the Baltimore Ravens, a player with whom new Giants head coach John Harbaugh is very familiar from his time in Baltimore.

According to Jason LaCanfora of Sportsboom, the Ravens have been thus far unsuccessful in reaching a contract agreement with Linderbaum and are prepared to go in a different direction.

But, LaCanfora added, there’s another caveat regarding Linderbaum that could give teams looking to sign him to a new contract some pause. That caveat, according to LaCanfora's sources, is some "underlying medical concerns.”

LaCanfora didn’t go into specifics regarding the “medical concerns” that might exist with the 25-year-old Linderbaum, but among the center’s reported injuries include a soft tissue injury in the summer of 2024, an ankle injury in September 2023, and a foot injury in August 2022 which was initially thought to be a lisfranc sprain but which was later found to be less severe.

That said, Linderbaum has played full seasons in three of his four years in the league, the exception being 2023, when he missed two games. So whatever “medical concerns” allegedly exist, they were clearly not that concerning to keep the center out of action.

The Ravens declined to exercise the option year in Linderbaum’s rookie deal, reportedly because the option year in rookie contracts doesn’t distinguish between the various positions on the offensive line.

The Ravens are also unlikely to use the franchise tag on Linderbaum, which would cost them $27.9 million per Over the Cap, more than the $23.4 million that it would have cost Baltimore to exercise the rookie option.

The question for the Giants is whether they will splurge on the three-time Pro Bowler, who, per Spotrac, has a market value of $17.7 million per year based on a four-year, $70.893 million contract, which would make him the highest-paid center in the league were he to receive that type of deal.

The Giants, whose own center John Michael Schmitz is entering the final year of his rookie deal, have a 2026 cap hit of $4.370 million.

While not nearly on the level of Linderbaum, Schmitz has improved each year he’s been in the league to the point where maybe the Giants roll with him for another season rather than splurge on Linderbaum, especially with other needs existing on the roster.

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