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The Ravens announced Thursday that they’ve signed rookie center Tyler Linderbaum, their second first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
Linderbaum is the third Ravens draft pick to sign his rookie deal, joining sixth-round running back Tyler Badie and third-round defensive tackle Travis Jones. Fellow first-round pick Kyle Hamilton, a safety, is one of eight players who have yet to finalize their rookie deals, including outside linebacker David Ojabo, offensive tackle Daniel Faalele, cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis, punter Jordan Stout, tight ends Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely and cornerback Damarion Williams.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but players drafted in the first round receive four-year contracts that carry a team option for a fifth season, according to the league’s collective bargaining agreement. Fifth-year options must be exercised after the third year of the deal.
After the Ravens sent wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for a first-round pick, they traded down with the Buffalo Bills and selected Linderbaum No. 25 overall. The Iowa center’s rookie deal is worth a projected $13.2 million with a signing bonus of $6.8 million, according to Spotrac, and he’ll count $2.4 million against the 2022 salary cap.
The 6-foot-2, 296-pound Linderbaum is expected to take over as the starting center this season after Bradley Bozeman signed with the Carolina Panthers this offseason as a free agent. Considered the top center prospect in the draft and a consensus All-American, Linderbaum is the first center selected in the first round by the Ravens in franchise history.
“You’re talking about one of the best technicians — strong, physical, tough, quick-footed,” general manager Eric DeCosta said after the first round in late April. “Somebody said it on TV, I think: If he was an inch taller and his arms were a half-inch longer, he would’ve been a top-five pick, and I believe that. He’s probably one of the better centers we’ve seen come out in a long time. So it filled a huge need for us.”
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