GREEN BAY, Delete. – At the end of the season, All-Pro center Corey Linsley said there had been no talks with the Green Bay Packers about a new contract.
With the start of free agency in less than three weeks, that has not changed, a source said on Wednesday. Linsley is expected to play elsewhere in 2021 and the Packers will want to replace their starting center from the past seven seasons.
While there is time to work out a deal with Linsley, it seems unlikely that this will happen. The Packers had all season to chat with Linsley, and the season ended almost exactly a month ago.
“My agent has not had any discussions with the Packers,” Linsley said one day after a bitter loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game – Linsley’s fourth empty trip to the title game in his seven seasons. Of course, that’s not to say something couldn’t happen, but so far it’s been a little complementary, but nothing substantial. We will continue with that. It is what it is. I felt that I personally had a good year. Obviously we didn’t get the goal we wanted, but I felt like I had released a good movie. Hopefully a team will appreciate that and with that in mind we will move to free agency. “
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Linsley’s is a fascinating free agency.
He was voted First Team All-Pro and was by far the highest rated center of ProFootballFocus.com. According to Sports Info Solutions, Linsley did not allow bag or anything (a tackle on or behind the scrimmage versus the run). Of the centers with more than 500 snaps, he had the third lowest blown-block rate of 0.6 percent, according to SIS. Nor was he punished.
On the other hand, Linsley missed three full games and most of two others due to injuries. After not missing a moment in 2017 and 2018, he played 88 percent in 2019 and 71 percent in 2020. And he’s going to go 30 to the right about the time training camps open next summer.
The fact that The Packers are $ 11.45 million over the expected salary ceiling certainly doesn’t help facilitate re-signing. While there are levers to create enough space, there are 10 centers that make at least $ 10 million per season, led by Ryan Kelly’s $ 12.4 million average.
The Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Chargers, and Baltimore Ravens should be among the suitors. The new Jacksonville Jaguars coach, Urban Meyer, coached Linsley in the state of Ohio. The Jaguars have a prominent center in Brandon Linder, but Linder played security guard in college and as a rookie.
Not only has Linsley been a great center, but he has also been a mainstay of the community. He was the team’s nominee for the prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
At the end of the season, however, Linsley sounded willing to leave his teammates and community ties behind.
“I had a talk with a friend of mine in town,” said Linsley. “The relationships we’ve made are shooting, we haven’t seen anyone this year anyway, so from that standpoint it’s kind of a gap year, but the relationships we’ve built we will always be in touch with people and see them. Again, it may be rare, not as often as it would have been here, but our home is in Ohio anyway, so it would happen sooner or later.
“But we love the people we’ve met here, the relationships we’ve built. We have been so lucky that we were a part of so many people’s lives and that they were part of ours. If it doesn’t, it stinks. The guys in the locker room, I’m definitely going to miss the guys in the locker room. This dressing room is a great dressing room. Again if it doesn’t the guests here are fantastic leaders, they can’t say enough about them. So that’s going to be difficult, but otherwise this is a company. I mean it is what it is. Some guys, that’s exactly what’s happening. “