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