The Green Bay Packers will likely have a new starting center to start the 2021 season.
According to Sports Illustrated Bill Huber, the Packers and All-Pro Corey Linsley have had no contact since the end of the season, leading home the hope that Linsley – a center-starter for the Packers for the past seven seasons – will have to move on during free agency.
His contract with the Packers is set to expire next month. At that time, he will become an unrestricted free agent, giving him the opportunity to sign with any team.
After losing the NFC title game, Linsley said he did not talk to the Packers about a new deal, setting the stage for a possible departure. At the very least, Linsley will have the chance to reach the open market and see what kind of offers await him from other teams.
The Packers drafted Linsley in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. He became a rookie right in the center, a position he has held in Green Bay ever since.
The 2020 season was Linsley’s best as a professional. Once again dominant as a pass blocker, Linsley has emerged as an essential part of the Packers’ blockade scheme. He ended the year with the highest overall score of all Pro Football Focus centers.
Packers have internal options to replace it in the center. Lucas Patrick has experience playing this position, the 2019 second-round pick Elgton Jenkins was a longtime center in Mississippi and played there while Linsley was injured last season, and the 2020 sixth-round pick Jake Hanson, started all four seasons in downtown Oregon. It is possible that even Jon Runyan will be a center-back option, based on how the Packers want to train positions and set up the top five without Linsley and potential David Bakhtiari, who is recovering from an ACL injury.
Linsley, who turns 30 at the end of July, could get a deal worth $ 10 million or more a year on the open market. According to Over the Cap, the highest paid center in football is Ryan Kelly of the Indianapolis Colts. His four-year deal is worth $ 12.4 million a season. Overall, five different centers earn $ 11 million or more a year, so there is an increase in salaries for the All-Pro center in the first team in 2020.