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INDIANAPOLIS — Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said Tuesday that the team has offered center Tyler Linderbaum a “market-setting deal” but that contract negotiations are ongoing ahead of the start of free agency next month.

Linderbaum, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, is considered one of the NFL’s top pending free agents. DeCosta said after the Ravens declined Linderbaum’s fifth-year option last offseason that the team intended to keep him in Baltimore for the “long term,” but DeCosta acknowledged in a podcast appearance last week that the Ravens have “got some work to do” in their negotiations.

In a news conference Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine, DeCosta said Linderbaum has “proven to be, in my opinion, the best center in the league.” But he acknowledged the Ravens were unlikely to designate Linderbaum with the transition tag or franchise tag by next Tuesday’s deadline.

A transition tag, which would allow Linderbaum to negotiate with other teams and give the Ravens a right-of-first-refusal mechanism, would be worth a projected $25.3 million, according to Over the Cap. A franchise tag would give the Ravens exclusive negotiating rights and be worth a projected $27.9 million.

“Hopefully, we can get something done with him between now and the start of the new league year,” DeCosta said.

Under DeCosta and predecessor Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens have committed to investing in ascendant homegrown talent. Linderbaum, a 2022 first-round pick and team leader, has started 66 of a possible 68 games over his Ravens career and is one of the NFL’s best run-blocking interior linemen. But he’s struggled at times in pass protection over the past two years, and the Ravens’ ongoing extension negotiations with quarterback Lamar Jackson have clouded the team’s financial future.

The clock is ticking. While the NFL’s so-called legal tampering period, during which agents of pending free agents can negotiate deals with new teams, doesn’t technically begin until March 9, meetings at the scouting combine can help agents gauge players’ value.

Pro Football Focus projected Linderbaum to sign a four-year, $80 million contract this offseason, with $53 million guaranteed. Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey, a first-team All-Pro in 2024 and 2025, has the highest average annual contract value at the position ($18 million) after signing a four-year, $72 million extension in August 2024.

Linderbaum has said that he “absolutely” wants to remain in Baltimore. Under new Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and new offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford, he would be the centerpiece of a line that struggled last year and could start two new guards in 2026. The Ravens are not expected to re-sign right guard Daniel Faalele, another pending free agent, and will likely bring in competition for the left guard spot, where Andrew Vorhees was inconsistent in his first full year as a starter.

The Ravens have $13.4 million in “effective” salary cap space, according to Over the Cap, and could create more if they sign Jackson to an extension or restructure his contract. If Linderbaum does not sign an extension by March 9, the Ravens would have to win a bidding war in free agency against teams with bigger war chests. Players can sign deals beginning on March 11.

“I think we’ve always been a team that has valued the importance of ... the trenches and being up front, which is one of the reasons why we want to bring Tyler back,” DeCosta said, “if we can.”