Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum is widely considered one of the five best players in the NFL at his position. But despite the team knowing this, they still opted to decline his fifth-year option last off-season. Due to antiquated positional designations related to the NFL-NFLPA collective bargaining agreement, that option would have paid him in the neighborhood of $23.4 million in 2026.
That price tag would have outpaced the current highest-paid center, Creed Humphrey, by over $5 million. It also effectively set an upper limit for how much Baltimore was willing to pay their prized young center.