The Las Vegas Raiders have been at the center of NFL free agency, mostly due to the Maxx Crosby trade that was done, then it wasn’t.
But the franchise was also active in bringing star players in for Klint Kubiak.
With the Raiders splashing the cash, the franchise filled several key needs early in free agency, and one was center Tyler Linderbaum from the Baltimore Ravens.
A three-year, $81 million deal is a huge investment.
And for ESPN’s Ben Solak, the Raiders reset the center market…but maybe too far.
“When the Raiders signed Linderbaum to a three-year, $81 million deal Monday, they reset the center market in a way that markets simply don’t get reset in the NFL,” Solak wrote. “The then-biggest deal at center was Creed Humphrey’s deal at $18 million per year. Linderbaum’s $27 million per year represents a 50% increase at the top. Unfathomable.”
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Raiders rebuilding quickly
Even without Crosby returning, the Raiders have made their moves this offseason, with Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker, Linderbaum, and Eric Stokes, just to name a few.
The franchise isn’t wasting any time putting key pieces at key positions to help kickstart this new regime under Kubiak.
Of course, dealing Crosby would also help, but if they do manage to keep him, then we can add him to the list.
Yes, many are still reeling from the Maxx news, but people might have also overlooked the fact that the Raiders just reset the center market in a monstrous way.
