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PHOENIX — There's no secret that Las Vegas Raiders’ general manager John Spytek has a strong appreciation for linemen. And that affinity was noticeable when Las Vegas signed center Tyler Linderbaum to a three-year deal worth $81 million, with $60 million fully guaranteed, making the 25-year-old the highest-paid interior lineman in NFL history.
The deal might seem like an overpay for a center, but does Spytek care? No. That's simply because the three-time Pro Bowl selection will play a vital role in new coach Klint Kubiak’s offense, serving as the leader of the entire operation and someone who can take the mental load off the quarterback, which in the Raiders’ case is likely to be projected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza. And given that Linderbaum is one of the best at the position, the Raiders felt compelled to use the league’s most cap space to bring him to Las Vegas.
"We're going to put a lot on the center," Spytek said at the annual league meeting. "At a position where some teams don't have as much value or want to put as much of a premium on it, that's not us.
"We value that position a lot, and he fits us perfectly from that standpoint. And so we were gonna make our best offer."
Going into the offseason, it was apparent that Las Vegas needed to be aggressive in upgrading the offensive line after the unit struggled in 2025. The Raiders were 22nd in both run block (70.4%) and pass block win rate (60.7%). Former quarterback Geno Smith was sacked 55 times — tied for the most in the league. On top of that, they ranked last in nearly every rushing metric, including yards per game (77.5).
Amid the Raiders' struggles, the coaching staff had several offensive linemen forced to play at different positions, whether due to performance or injuries. Las Vegas had three players start at center: Jordan Meredith, Will Putnam and Alex Cappa. Each one never played a regular-season snap at the position until 2025.
After the season, Spytek said Las Vegas would attack this entire offseason with an extremely open mind, considering all options to help bolster the offensive line. Spytek sat down with Kubiak, offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko and offensive line coach Rick Dennison to hear why they believe having a high-end center is crucial in their scheme.
"He touches the ball on every play, makes the line calls, calls protections [and] directions," Kubiak said. "He's the leader of the whole operation, touches the ball before the quarterback gets it. He's going to be leading meetings when the coaches aren't there."
Spytek and Kubiak have been fans of Linderbaum since the 6-foot-2 lineman was starring at Iowa. That admiration continued as he watched Linderbaum — the No. 25 overall pick in 2022 — anchor the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive line from afar.
The Ravens' decision not to pick up Linderbaum’s fifth-year option, which would have been $23.4 million in 2026, allowed him to test free agency. Before Linderbaum signed the dotted line, the highest-paid center was Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey at $18 million per year.
Las Vegas was well equipped to surpass that number. The Raiders entered the negotiating period on March 9th with the league's most cap space, allowing them to address the biggest need on the roster by locking down Linderbaum to a historic deal.
Even after the Ravens chose to back out of the Maxx Crosby’s trade, putting the All-Pro edge rusher’s cap hit of $35.8 million back on the Raiders’ books, Spytek didn’t have any worries about honoring the team’s contract agreement with Linderbaum and other free agents.
"We had a lot of cap space, and we had a lot of cash made available to us by Mark Davis and the ownership group to be aggressive and try to build the team the best way possible," Spytek said. "…We wouldn't have walked out of any of those deals.”
Linderbaum's average annual salary of $27 million is $9 million more than Humphrey and the sixth-most among offensive linemen, regardless of position. His salary in 2026 and 2027 was guaranteed at signing, and an additional $21 million for 2028 will be guaranteed on the third day of the 2027 league year.
Linderbaum also received a $20 million signing bonus and cannot be designated a franchise or transition player tag when his contract expires in 2029.
Kubiak loves Linderbaum's playing style, calling him a "physical" and "nasty" player. In 66 starts with the Ravens, Linderbaum had a pass block win rate of 96.2% and a run block win rate of 71.2%. His presence up front will give the Raiders any opportunity to maximize the potential of running back Ashton Jeanty.
Jeanty rushed for 975 yards as a rookie despite Las Vegas' inconsistencies in run blocking. Linderbaum's skill set will enable Las Vegas to smoothly operate its outside zone run scheme and open the door for Jeanty to make significant strides in Year 2. "As an offensive lineman, that's got to be your bread and butter, being able to run the football," Linderbaum said.
"[Linderbaum's] ability in the outside zone [and] run into space," Spytek said. "You'll hear our coaches talk a lot about running into space [and] running off the ball, and he's as good as there is in the league at doing that."
With the Raiders expected to take Mendoza at No. 1 in this month's draft, they hope Linderbaum's ability will be a great asset to him or whoever ends up playing quarterback in 2026.
On top of that, Kubiak wants players who have winning experience. And Linderbaum went to the postseason in three of his four seasons with the Ravens.
"We're trying to bring winners to the Raiders so that we can be on that level and go win playoff games," Kubiak said. "…[Linderbaum] plays the game the right way, and he's going to be a role model that we want all players to emulate."
Las Vegas' offensive line is not a finished product by any means. But the unit is in a much better position. The Raiders have three positions on the offensive line solidified with Linderbaum, guard Jackson Powers-Johnson and left tackle Kolton Miller.
They now have to figure out what to do at the other guard spot and right tackle. The Raiders signed former San Francisco 49ers guard Spencer Burford, who has started in 38 of 56 games. Meanwhile, guard Caleb Rogers showed flashes of his potential in the few appearances he made down the stretch of his rookie season.
As for the right tackle position, the Raiders explored different options during free agency but were content with two-year starter DJ Glaze. The belief in the building is that Las Vegas can get more out of Glaze and other returning offensive linemen with Dennison’s guidance.
"[Dennison's] experience in this scheme, his ability as a coach to get the best out of his players [and] his ability to scheme offensively. He's as good as it gets," Kubiak said.
