Ravens Say They Could Trade For Starting Center; Here Are Their Options

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I’m sure the Ravens weren’t completely caught off guard by losing C Tyler Linderbaum to the Raiders in free agency. They had plenty of time to prepare contingencies after declining Linderbaum’s fifth-year option last May, and the closer it got to the start of free agency, the more realistic a Linderbaum exit became. But I don’t think anyone foresaw the Raiders going to such extreme lengths, giving Linderbaum $27 million per year on a three-year deal that, for all practical purposes, is fully guaranteed. And whatever Plan B was, I don’t think the Ravens were able to execute that either. Given that the current depth chart has journeyman Danny Pinter at the top, the Ravens might have struck out on Plans C, D and E, too. The Ravens weren’t able to add a lot to the position going into the draft, whether by getting priced out or by choice. The draft came and went without the Ravens using any of their 11 picks on a center despite it being billed as a deep class. Afterward, GM Eric DeCosta acknowledged other teams were well aware of Baltimore’s situation at center and they were sniped on a few occasions with players they liked. DeCosta also said the Ravens might turn to the trade market to fill a glaring need on what otherwise is shaping up to be a possible Super Bowl-contending squad. They do have a few options, depending on how much they want to spend, but the Ravens are not working from a position of leverage here and that’s going to impact how things unfold. The good news is that Week 1 remains 15 weeks away, so the Ravens have some time to figure things out. Here’s a look at every angle of the situation. We’ll unpack the options on the roster and the trade market, whether DeCosta wants to go bargain shopping, big game hunting or something in the middle. If we do this well, Baltimore’s Week 1 starting center is going to be mentioned at some point in ensuing paragraphs. The Incumbents The Ravens currently have four centers on the roster: Pinter Jovaughn Gwyn Corey Bullock Nick Dawkins Pinter is a former mid-round pick of the Colts who turns 30 in June. He has 10 starts and about 900 snaps under his belt. Pro Football Focus may have warts but there aren’t a lot of great ways to make apples-to-apples comparisons for offensive linemen outside of PFF grades. Pinter hasn’t had a season with enough snaps to qualify, but his grades have generally been pretty up and down. Last year he would have ranked 31st at the position. Gwyn was a seventh-round pick by the Falcons in 2023 who has played just 11 snaps on offense in his career, all of them coming last year. He’s a familiar face for new Ravens OL coach Dwayne Ledford , who held the role for the Falcons the last couple of seasons. Bullock landed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2024, spent the year on the practice squad, then worked his way up to the 53-man roster last year. He played 13 snaps all season, five of those as a jumbo tight end. Dawkins is an undrafted rookie this year out of Penn State and the least likely to be a factor, at least in 2026. He did make the cut as one of our UDFAs to watch in 2026 , largely because of Baltimore’s need at the position, his size and how much Penn State’s coaching staff talked up his intangibles. A few teams are scraping the bottom of the barrel at center this year, but the Ravens might be at the absolute bottom. Of the four options on the roster, Pinter’s resume easily stands out, and even then he profiles more as a backup than a 17-game start…