Ravens GM Eric DeCosta announced they are declining the fifth-year option for C Tyler Linderbaum.
We are exercising the fifth-year option for safety Kyle Hamilton!
Statement from General Manager Eric DeCosta. pic.twitter.com/fTqK0ADx9c
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 30, 2025
However, DeCosta said the intent is to work out a long-term deal to ensure Linderbaum remains in Baltimore.
The option for Linderbaum would have been $23.4 million fully guaranteed for the 2026 season. All offensive linemen are grouped together for the option and franchise tags, which along with Linderbaum’s early-career success made the option so high.
Linderbaum will now be entering a contract year in 2025 and the Ravens will work on a deal to pay him at or above the top of the center market, currently paced by Chiefs C Creed Humphrey at $18 million a year.
Linderbaum, 25, was a three-year starter at Iowa and earned first-team All-American honors in 2021 and 2020, to go along with a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2021, second-team All-Big Ten in 2020, and an honorable mention in 2019.
The Ravens used the No. 25 overall pick on him in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He signed a four-year, $13,238,286 contract that includes a $6,807,844 signing bonus, plus a fifth-year option for the team to pick up in 2025.
In 2024, Linderbaum appeared in all 17 games for the Ravens and started all 17 games at center. Pro Football Focus had him graded as the No. 3 center out of 34 qualifying players.
The post Ravens Declining Option For C Tyler Linderbaum, But Intend To Work On Long-Term Deal appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.