{"id":769386,"date":"2026-02-22T17:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/769386\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T17:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:24:16","slug":"chargers-could-steal-away-ravens-top-player-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/769386\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers Could Steal Away Ravens Top Player In Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Baltimore Ravens\u2019 loss could be the Los Angeles Chargers\u2019 gain. With John Harbaugh out in Baltimore and now with the New York Giants, brother Jim Harbaugh might not feel so bad about stealing away one of the Ravens\u2019 top players. Saturday, ESPN\u2019s Kris Rhim noted<\/a> the Chargers could make a run at center Tyler Linderbaum, a top-of-the-market offensive lineman.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be surprising to see the Chargers make a push to sign Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum<\/a>, one of the\u00a0top projected free agents<\/a> and a player who Hortiz had a hand in selecting in the first round of the 2022 draft.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Rhim notes, the connection doesn\u2019t just come from Harbaugh. It primarily stems from Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz, who served as the Ravens Director of Player Personnel when Baltimore drafted Linderbaum 25th overall in 2022.<\/p>\n

After a year where Justin Herbert was beaten up more than any other quarterback, Los Angeles needs offensive line help. Offensive tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, returning after season-ending 2025 injuries, will make a world of difference. But the Chargers remain soft up the middle. Starting center Bradley Bozeman signed a modest two-year deal last year with ugly results. Of 31 qualified centers, Bozeman finished last in PFF\u2019s grading as a run blocker and in overall grade. He ranked 30th in pass protection, allowing 27 hurries to tie the most of any pivot.<\/p>\n

If Baltimore loses, Linderbaum, it\u2019ll be a decision of their own making. Last offseason, the Ravens declined the fifth-year option<\/a> on Linderbaum, making him a free agent for 2026. Given the high cost, the decision was understandable, but it eliminated an extra year of team control. If Baltimore loses and struggles to replace him, many will question that decision even more.<\/p>\n

New Ravens head coach Jesse Minter brought plenty of buzz. He built a strong coaching staff. But his first free agency could begin on a sour note by losing a starting center to his former team, the Chargers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Baltimore Ravens\u2019 loss could be the Los Angeles Chargers\u2019 gain. With John Harbaugh out in Baltimore and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2052],"tags":[184,117,2282,7,109360,262,6,57,169,7427],"class_list":{"0":"post-769386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-ravens","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-baltimore-ravens","10":"tag-baltimoreravens","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-kris-rhim","13":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","16":"tag-ravens","17":"tag-tyler-linderbaum"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116115450468685369","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}