Contingency Plans in Free Agency and the Draft if Tyler Linderbaum Leaves
The NFL's free agency frenzy gets underway on Monday, and the Ravens and pending free agent center Tyler Linderbaum have yet to reach an agreement on a deal.
The best-case scenario for the Ravens would be a repeat of last year, when they agreed to terms with left tackle Ronnie Stanley two days before the NFL's legal tampering period began. The worst-case scenario is that Linderbaum hits the open market and a bidding war ensues.
"I think it's going to be tough to get Linderbaum signed," Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote yesterday. "I've heard his camp is shooting for $25 million. And even if they don't quite get there—$22 million or $23 million might be more realistic—there are plenty of potential suitors in the Lions, Bears, Giants, Browns and Chargers to drive the Ravens to a point where they might not be comfortable."
If the latter happens and Linderbaum departs, the Ravens will have a void at center that's exacerbated by the team potentially looking for upgrades at both guard positions.
What could a contingency plan look like if the Ravens have to replace the 25-year-old Linderbaum?
The 33rd Team's Sam Monson identified a handful of free agent centers the Ravens could pursue, although one of them – 28-year-old Tyler Biadasz – can be scratched off the list because he reportedly has agreed to terms with the Los Angeles Chargers. There had been speculation that the Chargers would be among the leading suitors for Linderbaum.
"I think [in] the marketplace there's probably four you'd be happy starting next year," Monson said. "Linderbaum, you'd be ecstatic with. [Connor] McGovern, you'd be happy. And then [Tyler] Biadasz and [Ethan] Pocic, the two that you'd be OK with. Outside of that, I think you're probably not loving any of the centers available. The other interesting name would be [Lloyd] Cushenberry, who had been good, and then got injured and was no longer good."
McGovern, 28, was one of Pro Football Focus' highest-graded centers last season with the Buffalo Bills. A Pro Bowler in 2024, McGovern's 97.2% pass block win rate last season matched Linderbaum for second place behind Kansas City's Creed Humphrey, and McGovern's 72.6% run block win rate ranked third.
Pocic, 30, has 97 career starts with the Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns. He suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in December. Cushenberry, 28, has 80 career starts with the Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans.
Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema said he expects the Ravens to sign a starting-caliber veteran if Linderbaum leaves, but he added that there could be good depth options in the draft.
"Baltimore ran outside zone at the seventh-highest percentage in the league last year. Though they are changing offensive coordinators to Declan Doyle, he was a part of a Bears team that ran outside zone at an even higher rate," Sikkema wrote. "Jake Slaughter or Logan Jones, the Nos. 80 and 193 prospects on the PFF Predictive Big Board, respectively, would be good depth options to draft and develop. Slaughter earned an 81.7 PFF run-blocking grade on zone concepts, and Jones earned a 74.0 mark in that department."
Breer doesn't see many good options in the draft and he also pointed to Biadasz as a possible solution. The center market appears to be heating up.
"As for replacing [Linderbaum], this isn't a great draft class at the center position," Breer wrote. "For that reason, I'd bet they at least try to stopgap the position with a veteran like Tyler Biadasz, so they don't have to force anything in the draft."
Here's who the Ravens could consider adding at center and guard in free agency.
C Connor McGovern
McGovern has been the Bills' starting center for the past two seasons and is coming off a season with the fifth-best pass blocking win rate (97%) among all interior offensive linemen, per ESPN. Buffalo has had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL the past couple years, and McGovern has been the anchor in the middle.
C Tyler Linderbaum
A three-time Pro Bowler, Linderbaum has established himself as one of the best centers in the league and will be paid like it. The Ravens made Linderbaum a "market-setting" offer, but it remains to be seen how much over the market he commands.
C/G Graham Glasgow
The Lions released Glasgow this week on a cost-saving move. He stepped into the starting job last season to replace retiring Pro Bowler Frank Ragnow and held his own. His best season was in 2023, however, as a starting guard.
C Ethan Pocic
Pocic has been the Browns' center for the past four seasons and has done a solid job. He is a very tall center at 6-foot-6. His Pro Football grades have dipped the past two seasons.
C Tyler Biadasz
The Commanders surprisingly released Biadasz when he had one year left on his contract. He's coming off a season in which he logged his highest PFF grade in six seasons. He's a five-year starter and was a Pro Bowler in 2022 with the Dallas Cowboys.
C Cade Mays
Mays was the Panthers' starting center the past two seasons and played guard before that. He's gone from a sixth-round pick to a solid starting offensive lineman with good size (6-foot-6, 325 pounds).
G David Edwards
Edwards is another key piece of the Bills' impressive offensive line, and he's coming off arguably his best season. Edwards had the league's 10th-best run block win rate (75%) among all interior linemen. He's just 28 years old and is a former Super Bowl winner with the Los Angeles Rams.
G Joe Bitonio
At 34 years old, Bitonio was still one of the league's best guards last season. The seven-time Pro Bowler posted the league's sixth-best pass blocking win rate among interior offensive linemen (96%). He's spent his entire 12-year career in Cleveland but could land in a fresh city.
G Isaac Seumalo
Seumalo was the Steelers' best blocker last season with a pass blocking win rate of 97% that ranked third-best in the league among interior linemen. He also had the NFL's fourth-best run block win rate at 77%. The Ravens could snatch a rival's key free agent.
G Alijah Vera-Tucker
A former first-round pick (14th overall), Vera-Tucker is coming off a lost season due to a torn triceps suffered before Week 1. Injuries have been a problem, as he played in just 12 games during the 2022 and 2023 seasons (triceps and Achilles). When he's been healthy, he's been one of the best guards in the game, however.
G Kevin Zeitler
Zeitler spent three seasons as a highly-respected Raven, but the team moved on from him following the 2023 campaign. Zeitler answered with back-to-back solid campaigns in which he played 16 games in each. He posted the 15th-best PFF grade among starting interior blockers last season. Could he have a reunion at age 36?
G Zion Johnson
Another former first-round pick (17th overall) in 2022, Johnson never blossomed in his four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers and is now looking for a fresh start elsewhere. He's a Maryland (Bowie) native.
G Ed Ingram
Ingram was a strong run blocker last season, earning PFF's 11th-highest marks among all starting interior offensive linemen. However, his pass protection hasn't been a strong suit over his four NFL seasons.
G Wyatt Teller
Teller is another veteran Browns offensive lineman set to hit the market. A highly respected tough guy who can maul in the run game, Teller went to the Pro Bowl every year from 2021-2023 but has had more troubles the past couple seasons.
G John Simpson
Simpson emerged in Baltimore during the 2023 season and parlayed that into a lucrative free-agent deal with the New York Jets. He was a 17-game starter there the past two seasons and was the league's 14th-highest graded starting interior offensive lineman during the 2024 campaign.
G Daniel Faalele
A two-year starter in Baltimore, the hulking Faalele had his share of ups and downs. There were too many quick losses last season, which caused some of the Ravens' offensive inconsistencies, but teams may still see a high ceiling for the hulking and durable converted tackle.
G Mekhi Becton
The former 11th-overall pick converted from tackle to guard and helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl. That made Becton a prized free-agent signing for the Los Angeles Chargers last offseason, but he answered with an injury-plagued and rocky season in which he was one of the league's lowest-graded blockers. Becton was released in a cost-cutting move before free agency.
G Dylan Parham
Playing for a Raiders team that struggled last season, Parham had the NFL's 19th-best interior pass block win rate (95%) last season. A former third-round pick, Parham is a 26-year-old four-year starter.
Which Avenues Should Ravens Pursue to Address Their Top Positional Needs?
The Baltimore Banner’s Jonas Shaffer looked at the Ravens' nine biggest positional needs and identified the best avenue to address them.
Finding starters at edge rusher, "X" wide receiver, and guard are arguably the top priorities. Here's what Shaffer proposed for each:
Edge rusher
"Trade: General Manager Eric DeCosta treasures his first-round picks as if they're family heirlooms. He probably won't have the appetite to part with a first-round pick and more to acquire Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby, who has a $30 million base salary in 2026. But what about dealing a second- or third-round pick for another impactful pass rusher? The Minnesota Vikings are reportedly open to trading outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who has an $18.4 million cap hit in 2026, for a Day 2 selection. Greenard, 28, had 12 sacks in 2024 and a 16.6% pass rush win rate this past season, according to PFF, which tied for 25th among regular edge rushers. A shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery limited him to three sacks in 12 games. Greenard, who played at Louisville with Jackson, is under contract through 2027."
"X" wide receiver
"Draft: The Ravens need a weapon who can free up Pro Bowl receiver Zay Flowers to move around the field and play off the line of scrimmage. One problem: Wideouts who can beat press coverage and win on an island almost never reach free agency in their prime. … There's always good young talent in the draft, though. Arizona State's Jordyn Tyson, a first-round talent, has dominant traits but is injury-prone. Washington's Denzel Boston, Tennessee's Chris Brazzell II, Louisville's Chris Bell and Notre Dame's Malachi Fields could be options from late in the first round to late in the second."
Guards
"Draft: The Ravens should come away from the opening weeks of free agency with at least one guard. But the most attractive, team-friendly options are on Day 1 and Day 2 of the draft. Over the past decade, the team has used just two top-100 picks on full-time interior linemen: guard Ben Cleveland, a third-round pick in 2021, and Linderbaum, a first-round pick in 2022. (Emery Jones, a third-round pick last year, played tackle at LSU.) Penn State's Vega Ioane is considered a plug-and-play option and has been linked to the Ravens' No. 14 overall pick. Texas A&M's Chase Bisontis and Oregon's Emmanuel Pregnon could be second-round targets."
Jeff Zrebiec's Latest Ravens Mock Draft Merges Best Player Available With Biggest Needs
The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec also looked at how the Ravens can fill their biggest needs, but he concentrated solely on the draft.
In his second Ravens mock draft, Zrebiec selected players who addressed Baltimore's needs in the general vicinity of where they're predicted to come off the board for all 11 of its picks.
For the Ravens' first- and second-round picks, Zrebiec had them taking Ioane at No. 14 and Missouri outside linebacker Zion Young at No. 45.
"Ioane is one of the best players in the draft, and the only reason he could be available for the Ravens at No. 14 is if some teams don't believe in selecting guards early in the first round," Zrebiec wrote. "The Ravens, though, have consistently shown they aren't overly influenced by positional value. … Ioane is one of the cleanest prospects available. His physicality and athleticism will allow him to make a quick transition to the NFL.
"Young will need to develop more variety in his pass-rush moves and approach, but he has all the requisite tools to grow in that area — and he plays with the physicality, passion and nastiness the Ravens covet. Young will be a factor against the run immediately."
In the third round, Zrebiec mocked Florida State defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. to the Ravens.
"Jackson would continue the Ravens' trend of loading up on big, physical players early in the draft and trying to reclaim the trenches they lost far too often last year," Zrebiec wrote. "He's 6-foot-5, 315 pounds and has a 7-foot-2 wingspan.
"When he's playing with proper technique, Jackson is hard to move as a run defender and has enough explosiveness to flash as a pass rusher. Rounds 2 and 3 in this draft are billed as a sweet spot for a deep interior line class, and the Ravens need to be in the mix. Jackson has his warts as a prospect, but there's considerable upside here."
Ravens Had Third-Most-Injured Defense in 2025
Injuries, especially on defense, were a significant factor in why the Ravens finished with an 8-9 record last season, as evidenced by FTN Fantasy’s Aaron Schatz’s Adjusted Games Lost metric, which measures how often a team's starters and other important players are missing games or playing at less than 100%.
The Ravens' defense had the third-worst AGL in 2025. Despite quarterback Lamar Jackson missing four games, the offense was the fourth-best.
Overall, the Ravens were ranked 17th after being the league's healthiest team in 2024. No team was hit harder by injuries since the inception of the metric in 2001 than the 2021 Ravens, who also went 8-9.
