Which was actually my suggestion. You may recall Drew Dalman was a FA last year. I adamantly supported signing Dalman and moving Tippman to G. People were killing me for that. Tippman was not a very good Center and I still think we need to upgrade the C position, at least taking a C in the draft to develop.
Drew Dalman just unexpectedly retired at the age of 27. Now the Bears are going to be looking for a center. The C position just got very coveted in a short time.
I agree. Tippman played next to a bad center in Josh Myers. IMO - I feel Tippman is a better center than guard, ----- but people here on this site say that he wasn't good at line calls & therefore the rest of the line suffered from that.
I saw as well, that’s crazy! That was never even a factor or thought when CHI signed him and I still stand by my statement at the time when he was a FA. We need to improve the Center position. We need our next Mawae or Mangold.
1 down. The Chargers have signed former Commanders center Tyler Biadasz, the team announced Friday. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48121833/chargers-reach-deal-c-tyler-biadasz-source-says
Yeah, I heard that on the way into work this morning. This year's FA class, top to bottom in all positions, is actually pretty weak. There are only a small handful of players, at each position, worth looking at and NONE at the QB slot. All the QB's available are in the category of "settling." All the other positions are thin as well. Most I suspect will re-sign with their teams or be gone to others VERY quickly.
safety position is actually very deep, we should be able to get one of those guys to go along with Malachi
I'm hearing rumbles that neither Simpson nor AVT are guaranteed to be back at this point. I wonder what the front office is thinking. We desperately need both a guard and center upgrade for the long haul. I would be shocked if we dont actively engage to make the OL a top notch one once and for all.
They will be signing depth OL pieces in FA and I am thinking they are drafting one of the top guards probably in the second round. Pregnon from Oregon or Bisontis from Texas A&M….both would be a day one starter.
I know I keep harping on it but there's been a lot of offseason movement at the center position across the league. The PATS just traded their center Bradbury to the Bears. They're moving guard Jared Wilson to center for 2026 season. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48126368/patriots-trading-center-garrett-bradbury-bears And now w/this Maxx Crosby blockbuster trade + the contract they take on, - will the Ravens have the $$ to extend Tyler Linderbaum? Or do they simply franchise him? He's definitely worth the average of the top 5 players at the position. The Chargers, Bears & Patriots seem to have filled their center position. Its looking a little promising for NYJ on Tyler Linderbaum.
They didn't franchise him because while he is a top C, the tag factors salaries of all OL, which includes much more expensive tackles. So for him it would be: Non-Exclusive Franchise Tag: $25.773 million. Transition Tag: $23.392 million. The highest paid center in the NFL is Creed Humphrey, making 18 mil a year. Linderbaum will make more, but probably around 20 mil. Tags are higher than that. It's likely Baltimore does not want to invest that much in a Center. I would personally offer Linderbaum 20 mil a year. That could take our OL to the next level and make it more attractive for the QBs to come here. Or to declare instead of going back to school when they are faced with the option to get drafted by the Jets.
We have no mechanisms to prevent these guys from testing free agency. It's not like Breece, whom we could tag. AVT and Simpson are UFAs and there is nothing we could have done there. Yeah, lower level guys like Ruckert and Myers were happy when we offered guaranteed money and took it before Mooge changed his mind, but AVT and even Simpson are more valuable. They will have options, and frankly it would make a lot of sense to explore these options. That does not mean they are not coming back or they are. All depends on the market, what we offer, what others offer. But yea, they are no guarantee to be back, and there was very little chance they would be as we have no leverage there at all.
I understand and there is no argument from me about that. AVT will get a lot of interest and in my opinion if healthy will be a huge loss. Simpson not so much but we need to upgrade from him anyhow. My point is a lot of people think we are set at OL with zero discussion about boosting the OL position early in the draft while I think we are much weaker than we think. Our C position is far from ideal, and he should be moved to guard, forcing us to upgrade the C and guard position. I'm not that optimistic there is a lot in the open market we are in the running for dollar wise, we shall see. I dont cherish going with Simpson as primary for another year. Might be wrong, but the draft around the second round is an option they will explore. After all, this whole premise of a strong running game and protecting the QB starts there, and we are far from set.
I would be surprised if the Jets don’t select a guard in the second round as a day one starter…….If AVT and Simpson both depart.
Unless you get a deal done before free agency, they're gone. I don't know the actual statistics, but it sure feels like if you let a player test free agency, SOMEONE will pay them more and you lose them. I bet it's over 90% odds, though again that's just going on feel. personally, I would resign AVT. Dude is a great player on the field. He's had a lot of missed time, but the issues were not chronic like a bad knee or something like that...I know I hated betting on Becton when he kept getting hurt and that was proven to be right to question him, but to me, AVT is a very different player and a very different person....Becton seemed like a petulant immature child who moped and complained...AVT seems like a real pro athlete who works hard. I wouldn't let him get to free agency and I'd be willing to bet on the fluke injuries ending. And with so many needs, I'd hate to have to use a high pick on a guard
It’s the injury history and it’s unfortunate. Everybody seemed to have high hopes for AVT. If another team is willing to give him more money despite the history especially if it’s a less taxed state you can’t blame him for leaving and starting over somewhere else. But by the same token the Jets have a chance to start over too - if they were to grab a guy like Pregnon….mist likely a day one starter now they start over in terms of age and contract …. Cheaper than AVT.
You don't have to have a chronic injury to be injury prone, and AVT is one of the most injury prone players we have ever had. Out of a possible 85 games in his pro career, he has only played in 43. That's right at the 50% mark. You can't count on that.
Unfortunately, it’s the most important ability of all. We all know it can’t be helped but the fact is some players are more susceptible than others. If he can be replaced then…
The time to throw gasoline on the offensive line fire is right now. Both tackles are on rookie contracts and we have a ton of cap space. Go find the best center or guard the market offers and sign him to a 4-year deal with an out after two.
