Why Panthers Should Stay Far Away from Tyler Linderbaum in Free Agency

The Carolina Panthers currently do not have a center on the roster. All three of the interior linemen who could and did play center, Cade Mays, Brady Christensen, and Austin Corbett, are free agents now.

The Panthers are going to have to do one of three things: re-sign one or multiple of those FAs, draft a center early on, or sign someone in free agency. If they pursue the latter option, the best center perhaps in football, Tyler Linderbaum, is a free agent right now.

But if they do go down that road, Linderbaum is not an option they should truly pursue because he's about to reset the center market.

The Panthers should not sign Tyler Linderbaum

Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum (64) after scoring a touchdown | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The Panthers are going to have to address the center position, and a popular name being tossed around is Tyler Linderbaum. Should he make it to market, the Panthers will not be the only team interested in his services.

That's one reason they should sit this one out. There's going to be a bit of a bidding war, and they can't win that. They also can't afford him no matter who gets involved, because according to Bleacher Report analyst Kristopher Knox, he's about to reset the center market in a big way.

The Ravens declined his fifth-year option because it would've been too expensive. "The NFL's values for the franchise tag and the fifth-year option are the same for all offensive-line positions," Knox wrote.

"Exercising Linderbaum's fifth-year option would have meant giving him a one-year deal worth over $5 million more than Creed Humphrey's market-leading $18 million-per-year salary," he continued. "Linderbaum may not be worth $23 million-plus, but he stands a good chance of surpassing Humphrey's contract."

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Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum (64) before the game | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The projection B/R provided is a four-year, $73 million deal. Currently, the Panthers have about $8 million in true cap space. Signing Linderbaum will cost them over $18 million, and that's if they get him at a discount without a bidding war.

The Panthers can and will clear up more cap space, but even just adding $10 million will not be the easiest thing, and the Panthers cannot afford to spend all or even most of their salary cap on center.

Maybe that could be justified for a much bigger need, like edge rusher, but even then, the Panthers have too many issues to spend it all in one place. As good as Linderbaum is, he won't and shouldn't be a Panther.