Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta offered plans for center, while painting a stark reality for the position.
The 2026 NFL Draft has come and gone, and the Baltimore Ravens did not address their biggest need: the center position. Despite having the chance to take players like Auburn's Connor Lew or Kansas State's Sam Hecht, general manager Eric DeCosta and the front office had other plans.
Now, DeCosta had offered a bit of an update on what the plan is at center while also painting a stark reality of the position in general.
DeCosta was on WBalRadio, which was shared by ESPN's Jamison Hensley. When speaking about center, the Ravens' general manager did offer a plan.
"It didn’t work out for us this past weekend. I think there may be some potential trades we can look at and some other things we can do to address that position," DeCosta said.
The issue that DeCosta is planning for here in trades is that it's very hard to come by quality offensive linemen, let alone centers. A lot of the top free agents were also taken by other teams for the months following the start of the league year.
There are some options, such as former Detroit Lions center Graham Glasnow, and the aforementioned Pocic. Though both may not be what DeCosta and the Ravens are looking for.
DeCosta, referring to the center positions as being in "flux," is truly worrisome, as the team had the opportunity to use one of their draft picks on the position. Instead, two tight ends and receivers were taken, among many other positions.
That is not to say that taking offensive weapons and blocking tight ends was the wrong move, but ignoring the center position might come back to truly haunt DeCosta.
The Ravens' losing Tyler Linderbaum was clearly something they were not prepared for or ready to handle. The team simply did not want to pay him $27 million per season, which led to him joining the Las Vegas Raiders.
The good news is the Ravens did bring in a host of linemen, such as Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gwyn, and John Simpson. While those additions may be for depth or to sort out the guard position, one may have to step in as the starting center.
That may also be the case for draftee Vega Ioane, who was taken No. 14 overall in the draft. Though he is a consensus top guard, the Ravens may be forced to try him out at center to see if it is a fit.
DeCosta and the front office could very well find a free agent center to also take a swing at, but indicating that a trade may happen might be a bit dubious. That doesn't mean it's out of the realm of possibility, but the Ravens should have explored that option earlier on when there were more options to choose from.