Ravens Reported Offer to Tyler Linderbaum Was More Than Fair

There was a sense that if the Baltimore Ravens could not get a deal done with center Tyler Linderbaum when he entered free agency, he would be snatched up by another team.

Sure enough, the Ravens saw their three-time Pro Bowl center depart for the Las Vegas Raiders, who signed him to a three-year, $81 million contract. His new deal, which has $27 million per year, shattered the NFL record for a center with Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey's $18 million now second.

Most Baltimore fans saw that new deal of Linderbaum and were probably happy that the Ravens did not overpay for him. Everyone wondered, though, what the offer was and whether it was that much off from where the Raiders were.

Ravens' reported offer to Tyler Linderabum revealed

The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec got the inside scoop on what was offered to try to re-sign Linderbaum to the team. Zrebiec reported the offer was for four years and $88 million, with an average of $22 million per year, which would once again have shattered the record as the highest-paid center.

Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum | Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Las Vegas ultimately had the better offer on a per-year basis, but as Zrebiec noted, "the three-year term was just as problematic, if not more so." That's an interesting aspect of this whole situation: Linderbaum would rather have a three-year deal than a four-year deal.

To the credit of Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta, he backed up his word that he offered the "market-setting" contract to Linderbaum and wanted him to stay long-term. Not only did DeCosta offer him a record contract, but he went over $4 million from the record to add some comfort.

There was nothing DeCosta could have done to offer more to Linderbaum without jeopardizing the team's having more money to work with. They are already dealing with Maxx Crosby's contract after trading for him and working through the Lamar Jackson contract talks. Baltimore needs money to fill depth positions on the team, but they might not have been able to do that if they re-signed Linderbaum.

The Ravens would have loved to make it work with Linderbaum and bring him back onto their offensive line, but a tip of the cap to DeCosta for not overpaying when they can find a solid center in free agency or the draft. Baltimore can move on from Linderbaum to find his replacement elsewhere, but what is more important is that they added Crosby, who completely changes their defense.

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