GREEN BAY, Russia. – At the end of the season, All-Pro center Corey Linsley said there had been no talks with the Green Bay Packers to get a new contract.
With the start of the free agency in less than three weeks, that hasn’t changed, a source said Wednesday. The expectation is that Linsley will play anywhere else in 2021 and the Packers will try to replace their starting center from the last seven seasons.
While there is time to establish a deal with Linsley, it seems unlikely to happen. The Packers had the entire season to talk to Linsley and the season ended almost exactly a month ago.
“My agent hasn’t had any conversations with the Packers,” Linsley said a day after a bitter loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship: Linsley’s fourth empty trip to the title in his seven seasons . “That obviously doesn’t mean anything can’t happen, but so far it’s been complementary, but nothing fundamental. We’ll move on with that. That’s what it is. I thought I personally had a good year. Obviously, “We didn’t get the goal we wanted, but I thought it was a good film. I hope a team values it and we move to free agency with that in mind.”
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Linsley’s is a fascinating free agency.
He was chosen All-Pro of the first team and, for what it’s worth, was by far the most valued center on ProFootballFocus.com. According to Sports Info Solutions, Linsley allowed neither a sack nor anything (an attack on the fight line or behind the race against the race). Among centers with more than 500 snapshots, it had the third lowest percentage of blowing blocks at 0.6 percent, according to the SIS. He was not penalized either.
On the other hand, Linsley lost three full games and most of the other two to injuries. After not missing a moment in 2017 and 2018, he played 88% in 2019 and 71% in 2020. And it will be 30 years to the right about the time the training camps will open next summer.
The fact that the Packers exceed the projected salary cap of $ 11.45 million certainly doesn’t help facilitate the new signing. While there are levers that need to be thrown to create ample space, there are 10 centers that earn at least $ 10 million per season, led by Ryan Kelly’s average of $ 12.4 million.
The Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens should be among the contenders. The new Jacksonville Jaguars coach, Urban Meyer, coached Linsley at Ohio State. The Jaguars have a prominent center in Brandon Linder, but Linder served as a guard in college and as a rookie.
Linsley has not only been an excellent center, but has been a pillar of the community. He was the team’s nominee for the prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
However, by the end of the season, Linsley seemed ready to leave behind his teammates and community connections.
“I talked to a friend of mine in town,” Linsley said. “The relationships we made, we shoot, we didn’t see anyone this year, anyway, so it’s like an empty year from that point of view, but the relationships we built will always keep in touch with people and we’ll see them. Again, it may be infrequent, not as much as it would have been here, but our home in Ohio, anyway, so sooner or later it would happen.
“But we love the people we’ve met here, the relationships we’ve built. We have been fortunate to be a part of the lives of so many people and a part of our own. If it doesn’t happen, it stinks. The guys in the locker room, I’m sure I’ll miss the guys in the locker room. This wardrobe is a great dressing room. Again, if it doesn’t happen, the guys here are fantastic leaders, they can’t say enough. So it will be difficult, but other than that, it is a business. I mean that’s what it is. Some guys, that’s what happens. “