In the aftershocks of the New York Giants making the move to hire John Harbaugh as their next head coach late Wednesday night, all the ways it still might impact his old team, the Baltimore Ravens, had yet to be considered.
Mainly, we don’t yet know how Harbaugh’s hiring might sway Baltimore’s best free agents — a group led by 2022 first round pick and 3-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum.
In the 24 hours after Harbaugh was hired, Linderbaum’s name became a hot topic among Giants fans who rightly think he would be a home run signing in free agency.
“If John Harbaugh and this front office are going to make a splash in free agency, Tyler Linderbaum is who I want the Giants to go after,” The Giant Topic wrote on X.
The Giants currently have just $11.2 million in salary cap space, but that number will go up when the NFL announces its new salary cap for 2026 then go up even more when Harbaugh gets to take a scythe to the current roster.
“The Giants are very unlikely to make it work with their current cap space (although rookie QB contract makes more possible),” Bengal YouTube wrote on its official X account. “But if there was ever a free agent who lined up with a huge need for the Giants … Tyler Linderbaum would make a ton of sense.”
Linderbaum Predicted for Big Money in Free Agency
If Linderbaum does end up in Giants, they’ll have some serious competition for his service — Spotrac predicts he’s in line for a 4-year, $70.8 milliion contract.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox has Linderbaum, 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds, as the No. 3 overall NFL free agent in the 2026 cycle.
“There’s a good chance that Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum doesn’t actually reach the open market,” Knox wrote. “Baltimore declined his fifth-year option strictly because of salary implications—the franchise tag and the fifth-year option values are determined by offensive line salaries, not just center salaries … If Linderbaum does reach free agency, though, he may be the most coveted lineman on the market. The 25-year-old was just named to his third Pro Bowl and has rarely missed time in his four seasons with the Ravens. While Linderbaum may be a center-only lineman, he’s durable, dependable, and just entering his playing prime.”
Ravens Could Have Signed Linderbaum Early
The Ravens already made a huge mistake by not signing Linderbaum after last season and letting him play out his contract — something media types were basically begging them to do.
Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti predicted Linderbaum would receive a “last minute” 4-year, $77 million contract extension which would pay him approximately $19.25 million. That would top the 4-year, $72 million contract extension signed by Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey in August 2024.
“The 2022 1st Rounder enters a contract year this season, after Baltimore declined a $23.4M 5th-year option (improperly valued as an “offensive line” figure),” Ginnitti wrote on August 9. “That hasn’t stopped the two sides from discussing his long-term future in purple, as the 25-year-old likely seeks a top of market extension.”
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