The $81 Million Player Who Shattered the NFL’s Salary Scale

 

Center Tyler Linderbaum transformed the economics of his position by landing a deal worth 50% more a year than any of his peers

 

By Andrew Beaton

March 10, 2026 9:00 am ET

The Raiders signed center Tyler Linderbaum to a 3-year, $81 million deal. Terrance Williams/Associated Press

 

Tyler Linderbaum had every attribute he needed to set off a bidding war when NFL free agency kicked off on Monday. 

Over four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, he had clearly established himself among the best centers in the league. At 25 years old, he was also in the prime of his career. Even better, he was the only offensive lineman of his caliber on the market.

The only factor standing between him and breaking the bank was a general view that centers weren’t as valuable as other positions. Which is what made the deal Linderbaum received even more stunning. 

On Monday, Linderbaum agreed to a three-year, $81 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders that not only made the highest-paid player at his position—it completely warped the NFL’s salary scale. The previous top deal for a center, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey, was for $18 million a year. At $27 million annually, Linderbaum raised the bar by 50%. 

Under normal circumstances, those records move in small increments, not gigantic leaps. But Linderbaum had a perfect storm on his side to supercharge his market. Players so young and so talented don’t become free agents all that often. And with the NFL salary cap now over $300 million, teams had plenty of money to spend—without many other top-shelf players to lavish it on. 

As it turns out, the team with the most money at its disposal was the one that landed him. The Raiders had over $100 million in room beneath the salary cap—along with a need to protect their most important asset. In next month’s NFL draft, they have the No. 1 draft pick, which they’re all but certain to use on Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.  

At 25, Linderbaum is in the prime of his career. Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images

 

So the Raiders didn’t think twice about splurging on the guy who will snap him the ball. As general manager Jon Spytek recently explained, bringing in a young quarterback means a need to keep him upright. 

“You want to limit the amount of pressure you have on that guy,” Spytek said. “A great offensive line, a run game, all the things that can limit his chances to really get killed.”

To understand how NFL teams value their rosters, you only need to glance at which positions draw the most cash. Quarterbacks are at the top, with 11 passers now having received deals worth more than $50 million a year. 

After that, the top pass rushers and wide receivers tend to have the most earning power. Centers only begin to appear near the bottom of the scale. Even compared to other offensive linemen, they tend to be cheap. The highest-paid tackle last year made $30.1 million, or 67% more than the Chiefs’ Humphrey. The top guard was also significantly higher at $24 million a year. 

That made centers a potential inefficiency in the market. The league is flush with strong pass rushers who come through the middle. And as modern defenses do more to disguise their coverages and blitzes, centers have an even bigger job as the brains of the offensive line. 

It’s no wonder that some of the savviest teams in the league understood it was worth shelling out for a good one. Before Linderbaum, the two centers who earned the most belonged to the Chiefs and Eagles—who have three of the past four Super Bowls between them. 

Linderbaum capitalized on all of that during free agency’s soft opening, which featured the typical frenzy of agreements that can be officially signed on Wednesday. On a day that saw the Chiefs sign Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker from the Seahawks and linebacker Jaelan Phillips land a four-year, $120 million deal with the Panthers, Linderbaum was the one who transformed the economics of his position.

Linderbaum was a first-round selection of the Ravens in 2022. Julio Cortez/Associated Press

 

The odd twist is that the Ravens could have kept Linderbaum, one of their first-round draft picks in 2022, for far less. Last year, they had an option to keep him for an additional season, but it would’ve cost $23.4 million, which was $5 million more than the top of the center market. They deemed that too much and instead sought to work out a deal that they felt was more reasonable. 

“It is our intention for him to remain a Baltimore Raven long term,” general manager Eric DeCosta said at the time. 

What the Ravens didn’t count on was another team straying so far positional norms. But coming off a three-win season, the Raiders weren’t afraid to go to extreme lengths to rebuild their franchise.

“We’ve got a lot of needs to address,” Spytek said recently, “and we’ve got a lot of capital to do it.”

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Appeared in the March 11, 2026, print edition as 'The $81 Million Center Who Shattered NFL’s Salary Scale'.

The NFL Is Charging Into the Era of the $300 Million Salary Cap

 

Teams have a record amount of cash to spend this offseason. The only problem is that they’re staring at an unusually shallow pool of free agents.

 

By Andrew Beaton

March 4, 2026 9:00 am ET

At quarterback, Malik Willis is the prize of the free-agent class even though he has a limited track record of success. Patrick Mcdermott/Getty Images

 

The Las Vegas Raiders entered this NFL offseason armed with the types of assets that could quickly turn around a floundering franchise. 

They’re now led by Klint Kubiak, the brains behind the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning offense, as their new head coach. They hold the No. 1 pick in the draft, which is widely expected to be used on Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. And they have nearly $90 million in room under the salary cap to spend on new players. 

But with the cap soaring to $301.2 million per team next season—nearly double what it was a decade ago—teams like the Raiders are running into a new kind of problem. When free agency begins next week, there simply won’t be many good players to spend all that cash on. 

This year’s free agent class is widely viewed as unusually thin. And the pool will only get shallower by the time the market opens as teams re-sign their own players. That odd set of circumstances means that the few stars who are available may be able to land eye-popping contracts while some lesser known players will inevitably command surprising sums. 

What hasn’t changed is that teams view the next two months as foundational opportunities to transform their rosters.

“We’ve got a lot of needs to address,” said Raiders general manager John Spytek, “and we’ve got a lot of capital to do it.”

The Titans and Raiders are the teams with the most cap space—and plenty of holes to fill. Neither of them finished last season with more than three victories. To get a sense of just how much money could be floating around this offseason, it’s helpful to remember that the 10 teams with the most space have more than $600 million in cap room between them, according to the salary tracking website Over the Cap. 

All of that available cash means that it’s never been better to be someone like linebacker Jaelan Phillips. 

In a weak free agent class, Phillips’s upside makes him stand out. A midseason trade acquisition from the Miami Dolphins, Phillips was a chaos agent for a Philadelphia Eagles defense that was one of the best units in the NFL. Moreover, he’s still just 26 years old so his most productive years may still be ahead of him. 

That puts him in a position to cash in—even if he’s far from perfect. Despite his success consistently pressuring opposing quarterbacks, he only had five sacks last year. He also missed most of the 2023 and 2024 seasons due to serious injuries.

Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips in a position to cash in on the free-agent market. Eric Hartline/Imagn Images/Reuters

 

Most of the other high-profile names on the market come with question marks, too. If the Cincinnati Bengals allow defensive end Trey Hendrickson to walk, he could score the biggest deal in all of free agency at a point in his career when he’s hardly a sure bet. After he led the NFL with 17.5 sacks in 2024, he played just seven games last year due to injuries. Plus, he’s already 31 years old. 

At quarterback, Malik Willis is the prize of the class even though he has a limited track record of success. After struggling with the Tennessee Titans coming out of college, he performed brilliantly during limited duty as a backup with the Packers over the past couple of years. Still, he was limited to a grand total of 89 pass attempts. 

Regardless, Willis is likely to land a handsome payday, due to the scarcity of desirable passers and the number of teams that badly need one. 

“Any team that is potentially in a needy quarterback situation…if they tell you they’re not talking about Malik Willis, that would be a lie,” said Miami Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, who came from the Packers front office.

Ravens running back Derrick Henry runs with the ball as center Tyler Linderbaum blocks. Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press

 

The one player with few doubts around him is Tyler Linderbaum. Just 25 years old, he was among the best centers in the NFL last year for the Baltimore Ravens. And his market figures to be especially robust not only because of his talent, but also because he’s by far the best available offensive lineman. 

Which is why Linderbaum can safely expect to hold a new distinction next week, no matter where he lands: the NFL’s highest paid center. 

“We’ve made him a market-setting offer,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said, “and hopefully we can get something done.”

Copyright ?2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Appeared in the March 6, 2026, print edition as 'As NFL Free Agency Begins, Salary Cap Soars to $300 Million'.