If the New York Giants are going to sign Tyler Linderbaum in free agency, they are going to have to hurdle over a number of teams to get the Baltimore Ravens center to make that happen.<\/p>\n
The retirement of Chicago Bears center Dave Dalman<\/a> on Tuesday at age 27 has added another contending team to a growing list of potential suitors for Linderbaum, a three-time Pro Bowler in four seasons who will be 26 during the upcoming season.<\/p>\n Who else is on that list?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s examine the competition. There might be more teams involved than the ones listed below, but these are the obvious ones.<\/p>\n That, of course, is Linderbaum\u2019s current team. Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta said at the NFL Scouting Combine that the Ravens had made Linderbaum a \u201cmarket-setting offer.\u201d<\/p>\n Creed Humphrey of the Kansas City Chiefs is currently the league\u2019s highest-paid center, averaging $18 million per year. The belief is that Linderbaum will get offers of more than $20 million annually, and that the Ravens won\u2019t want to compete at that price<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Lions had a disappointing 2025 season, but are considered a contending team. Detroit just released veteran starting center Graham Glasgow.<\/p>\n Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated thinks the Lions might take a \u201cbig swing\u201d at Linderbaum<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201dI\u2019d expect the acquisition of (Juice) Scruggs to be the first one in a little bit of an offensive line reworking. Detroit\u2019s identity was built through that position group through Dan Campbell\u2019s first four years, and fell off a bit last year. To get it back to where it was, I wouldn\u2019t rule out a big swing by Detroit, maybe on someone such as Ravens free-agent center Tyler Linderbaum.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeremy Reisman of SB Nation\u2019s Pride of Detroit thinks the Lions will be \u201cinterested,\u201d but won\u2019t be \u201cwilling to pay what it will require\u201d to sign Linderbaum.<\/p>\n The Chargers, coached by John Harbaugh\u2019s brother, Jim, recently lost starting center Bradley Bozeman to retirement. Los Angeles lived through a 2025 season derailed largely by injuries to critical offensive linemen. We know what the Harbaugh philosophy is, and the Chargers won\u2019t want that to happen again.<\/p>\n The Chargers currently have more than $84 million in cap space, and it wouldn\u2019t be a surprise if they plan to use some of it to make a major bid for Linderbaum. Especial since Los Angeles GM Joe Hortiz was in the Baltimore front office when the Ravens drafted Linderbaum.<\/p>\n