We haven’t even reached the NFL’s legal tampering window, and the free agent market at center is already drying up.
For GM Andrew Berry and the Cleveland Browns, the league’s recent transaction wire could throw a wrench in their plans to find a veteran replacement for the injured (and likely departing) Ethan Pocic.
The Los Angeles Chargers pounced on Tyler Biadasz with a three-year deal on Friday; the 28-year-old was available for teams to sign immediately after getting cut by Washington the week prior. The Chicago Bears, meanwhile, moved quickly to replace the retiring Drew Dahlman by executing a trade with the New England Patriots for Garrett Bradbury.
Then, on Saturday, the Buffalo Bills locked up Connor McGovern, one of the top pending free agent centers expected to hit the market, with a new four-year extension that makes him the third-highest-paid player at his position. And on Sunday, the Packers locked up Sean Rhyan with a new three-year deal.
For the Browns, the first wave of free agency might be Tyler Linderbaum or bust. They could explore making Todd Monken’s former multi-time Pro Bowler the highest paid player at the position (by what’s trending to be a large margin), or pivot to the second or third rings of free agency to create a training camp competition.
The latter option would represent a show of faith in the 24-year-old Luke Wypler, who’s been a reserve interior lineman for the Browns as a sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft. He has started games at both left tackle and right guard for Cleveland, but he was the go-to replacement for Pocic at center from Week 15 on last season, and ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi hinted that the former Ohio State Buckeye could end up being the team’s best 2026 option.
In his four starts at center, Wypler was 29th out of 34 centers in pass block win rate but eighth in run block win rate. 31st in pressure rate allowed, per Next Gen Stats.
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) March 7, 2026
For comparison, Ethan Pocic was 25th in PBWR and ninth in RBWR before his injury. 28th in pressure rate… https://t.co/bS9435DF1I
The Browns’ starting center job might fall right into Luke Wypler’s lap
Wypler’s far from a finished product and is a bit undersized for the position, but he’s built similarly to Linderbaum and could have some upside in the run game if Monken can tap into his athleticism. He flashed strong pass-protection skills working in front of Shedeur Sanders last year, allowing zero sacks in his four starts and just five total pressures, per Pro Football Focus.
Browns fans are expecting the team to be proactive at interior offensive lineman this offseason with the potential for Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, and Pocic to all move on. They could find better value at guard in free agency this year, which could leave Wypler battling with either a rookie or a cheaper veteran come the start of training camp.
It’s worth noting that the Browns restructured the contracts of both Deshaun Watson and Denzel Ward to gain salary cap compliance this week, but they haven’t cleared the kind of cap space fans were anticipating. Ward’s contract, in particular, has north of $12 million in potential savings that GM Andrew Berry and the front office have yet to tap into.
Cleveland’s active cap space isn’t yet known. The terms of Tytus Howard’s recent contract extension are set to hit the books at the start of the new league year, and his 2026 cap number should put the Browns somewhere between $15 million and $33 million, per ESPN and Over the Cap.
Berry hasn’t made it sound like the salary cap would deter the Browns from making moves this offseason, and the Howard trade backed that up last week. But are they poised to swing for the fences financially for Linderbaum? That feels even more unlikely now, given the way the market’s been trending (and all the leverage Linderbaum currently has in his back pocket).