{"id":774167,"date":"2026-02-24T22:08:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/774167\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T22:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:08:18","slug":"espn-tiers-the-centers-in-2026-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/774167\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN tiers the centers in 2026 free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESPN\u2019s Bill Barnwell recently released his tiers of offensive free agents<\/a>, ranging from franchise players (tier 1) to backups who are likely to earn a roster spot (tier 6). For the Green Bay Packers, the squeaky wheel on offense going into 2026 is going to be the center position, as Elgton Jenkins is expected to be a cap casualty and Jenkins\u2019 injury replacement in 2025, Sean Rhyan, is also set to hit the open market.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, let\u2019s take a look at how Barnwell stacked the center class.<\/p>\n

To no surprise to anyone, it\u2019s Tyler Linderbaum and then everyone else. He\u2019s truly a class above the rest of the options available. Down in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta stated that the team will not be using the franchise tag on Linderbaum, but that they have offered him a \u201cmarket-setting\u201d contract. Whether or not Linderbaum actually hits free agency is still up in the air at this point.<\/p>\n

After Linderbaum, there are only two other \u201ccapable starters\u201d in the eyes of Barnwell, Buffalo\u2019s Connor McGovern and then Jenkins, who will likely be released from Green Bay due to his $20 million in cash due for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Not great. Rhyan was ranked in the fifth tier. Barnwell projects Rhyan to earn between $1.5 million and $3 million per year on the open market. To me, that seems entirely too low, considering that Jon Runyan Jr. was able to earn $10 million per year back in 2024 as a similar rotational offensive lineman. If the Packers can get Rhyan at $3 million, they should get him under contract now. Personally, I think he\u2019s going to get north of that.<\/p>\n

Consensus Free Agent Rankings – Centers<\/p>\n

For perspective, here is what the consensus free agent center board<\/a>, which doesn\u2019t include cap casualties, looks like after compiling data from 24 free agency rankings around the internet. Here, Rhyan is ranked as the fifth-best center option, only behind the outright starters on the market.<\/p>\n

Packers Offensive Free Agents – ESPN Tiers<\/p>\n

Here is how Barnwell ranked all of the Packers\u2019 offensive free agents, listed by their tiers. For what it\u2019s worth, running back Emmanuel Wilson is a restricted free agent, so he will only hit the market if he\u2019s not tendered. The minimum tender this season is going to be around $3.5 million for one year, and it\u2019s unlikely that Green Bay pulls the trigger to execute it.<\/p>\n

Packers Consensus Board Rankings<\/p>\n

If you wanted an update on where the Packers\u2019 players rank on the consensus draft board, here\u2019s what their list looks like currently:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESPN\u2019s Bill Barnwell recently released his tiers of offensive free agents, ranging from franchise players (tier 1) to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":721229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[7,41,345,9684,2514,2513,6,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-774167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-green-bay","10":"tag-green-bay-packers","11":"tag-green-bay-packers-free-agency","12":"tag-greenbay","13":"tag-greenbaypackers","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-packers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116127891893143346","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774167","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=774167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/721229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}