OTL: Exploring Potential Post-Draft Center Options

The 2026 offseason marked a busy one for NFL centers.

Former Ravens snapper Tyler Linderbaum marked the biggest move of the bunch after he left Baltimore to sign a three-year, $81 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. The move to make Linderbaum the highest paid center in NFL history left a void in the middle of Baltimore’s offensive line.

That void remains unfilled after the 2026 NFL Draft.

The team already needed to address its gaping holes at offensive guard, which they did by signing veteran John Simpson to a three-year deal early in free agency and selecting Penn State’s Olaivavega Ioane with the 14th pick in the draft.

After pairing Ioane with a familiar face in Simpson, it seemed clear that general manager Eric DeCosta was emphasizing the trenches this offseason. Many, potentially including the front office, believed the team’s heir to Linderbaum lied in the third round of the draft.

However, after two of the top options, Iowa’s Logan Jones and Florida’s Jake Slaughter, flew off the board in the second round, DeCosta elected to pass on adding to the position.

Kansas State center Sam Hecht and Auburn center Connor Lew were both available for the Ravens at a number of their mid-round picks. But, that wasn’t moving the needle for DeCosta. So, what will?

“There will be options for us, potentially terminated vets, potentially trade options,” DeCosta said on “The Lounge” podcast on Wednesday. “Obviously, it’s a position that we’ll continue to look at.”

The center position did see a trade occur back in March when New England Patriots veteran Garrett Bradbury was dealt to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick. The market exists, but it’s extremely limited.

So, what options exist? What potential free agents are still available to become Baltimore’s next starting center? Are there even reliable trade options? Let’s find out.

Internal Options

Danny Pinter

If I had to guess, I’d expect former Indianapolis Colts center Danny Pinter has the inside track to start at the position for the Ravens as of May 4.

Pinter, 29, has the most experience at center of anyone currently on the team, logging 617 career snaps at the position through his six-year career. The veteran allowed his first sack since the 2022 season in Week 16 of last year.

The former fifth-round pick never started full-time in his tenure with Indianapolis, but he has recorded 10 starts in 77 career games in his career, which is far more than any potential trade candidate.

Pinter started three games over the past two seasons and posted a career-high 60.9 pass blocking grade, per Pro Football Focus, a season ago. He also possesses 219 career snaps worth of experience at offensive guard should injuries pose an obstacle for the Ravens in 2026.

Corey Bullock

An undrafted free agent in 2024, Corey Bullock has waited patiently for an opportunity to show his worth to DeCosta and company.

This season, he may get it.

A standout season at guard for the Maryland Terrapins in 2023 netted him a contract with his hometown Ravens, where he hit the ground running. Bullock was graded the best rookie offensive lineman of the 2024 preseason by PFF.

In 2025, he primarily moved to center where he, once again, had a standout preseason. In 80 snaps at the position, Bullock allowed no sacks and no pressures, which was enough to earn him a spot on Baltimore’s initial 53-man roster for the first time in his career.

The former Terrapin appeared in just 13 snaps during the 2025 regular season, seven of which came at center.

Bullock has shown the preliminary flashes and with DeCosta reiterating that the team is analyzing every possible option for its upcoming center competition, a massive jump could be in store for the 24-year-old.

Nick Dawkins

Though Baltimore did not use one of its draft picks on a center, they did add one after the draft’s conclusion.

Nick Dawkins, a five-year center at Penn State, is lucky to have joined a team with a wide open center competition and rich history in developing undrafted gems.

A season ago, three undrafted rookies made Baltimore’s initial 53-man roster and Dawkins makes a compelling case to be included on that list in 2026.

The 23-year-old’s six pressures allowed in 2025 ranked third among qualifying Big Ten centers. Dawkins also posted a 79.8 pass blocking grade, which ranked eighth among the same group.

Standing at 6-foot-4 and 306 lbs, he also played directly alongside Ioane in his time with the Nittany Lions. Dawkins also has familiarity with Baltimore’s run game coordinator and offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford, who tried to recruit the center when he was the offensive coordinator at Louisville.

Invest in the Dawkins stock!

Potential Free Agents

Graham Glasgow, DET

Since opening on March 11, the free agency market has severely dwindled down, especially at center.

There are just two remaining options available on the open market who started full-time last season.

One of those options is former Cleveland Browns center Ethan Pocic, but considering he suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in Week 14 of last season, it is hard to imagine he will be a suitable option to start at the position in Baltimore.

The other is former Lions offensive lineman Graham Glasgow.

Glasgow, a former third-round pick by Detroit in 2016, rejoined the Lions after a brief three-year stint with the Denver Broncos.

The 33-year-old has moved interchangeably from guard to center throughout his decade-long NFL career. After logging 1,027 snaps at left guard for the Lions in 2024, he slid over to center upon the retirement of former Pro-Bowler Frank Ragnow.

In 873 snaps at the position, Glasgow posted the worst PFF grade (56.8) since his rookie year, though he only allowed one sack all season.

In 2023, the veteran notched career highs in overall PFF grade (75.1) and run blocking grade (82.1), the version of himself he is hoping to return to in 2026.

His numbers have slumped over the past two years, but with 1,723 regular season snaps at center across his past four seasons, Glasgow would immediately raise the floor of Baltimore’s center position while adding a veteran presence to the middle of the offensive line.

Andre James, LAC

Andre James is now two years removed from being the Las Vegas Raiders starting center.

After Las Vegas let him walk in free agency, James joined the Los Angeles Chargers in 2025, where he was with current Ravens head coach Jesse Minter.

The presence of former Ravens center Bradley Bozeman netted James just 84 blocking snaps in the regular season. In that small sample size, he allowed just two pressures.

In his last five seasons, James has recorded 3,852 snaps at center, including 60 starts in that span. That kind of experience is hard to come by.

In 2023, James was graded the ninth-best center in the NFL by PFF. The former undrafted free agent has never posted a pass blocking grade below 64, emphasizing the potential floor he would bring to the Ravens interior offensive line.

Potential Trade Candidates

Alex Forsyth, DEN

You will see that the trade market at the center position runs extremely thin. Each of the following three options have very limited starting experience and would pose developmental options should DeCosta and company seek to add another young body to the mix in Baltimore.

The first of these candidates is Broncos center Alex Forsyth.

Forsyth, 27, is entering his fourth NFL season after being selected late in the seventh round by Denver back in 2023. The former Oregon Duck has proven to be a reliable depth piece, allowing 13 pressures in his 428 career blocking snaps.

Forsyth was graded the third-highest pass blocking center of the 2025 preseason by PFF (min. 75 blocking snaps).

Denver recently extended their starting center, Luke Wattenberg, to a four-year deal back in November 2025, which could make Forsyth an expendable trade candidate for the right price.

It helps that his time with the Broncos overlaps with Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, who was Denver’s tight ends coach for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Olusegun Oluwatimi, SEA

Mike MacDonald’s Seattle Seahawks witnessed a breakout season from former undrafted center Jalen Sundell in their Super Bowl-winning campaign.

Former fifth-round pick Olusegun Oluwatimi took a backseat in the process, making him a potential young trade candidate.

Oluwatimi, 26, has started 12 games for Seattle across the past two seasons in which he logged 747 total blocking snaps. He has yet to allow a sack in his 871-snap regular season career.

Oluwatimi transferred to the Michigan Wolverines for his senior season in 2022, allowing him to face Baltimore’s current head coach in practice everyday. Minter was Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2022 and 2023.

The emergence of Sundell could make the former Wolverine an intriguing addition to Baltimore’s uncertain group of centers.

Jordan Meredith, LV

How ironic would it be if the Ravens replaced Linderbaum with the player he is set to replace in Las Vegas?

In a healthy Raiders lineup, Jordan Meredith is not projected to start for the team in 2026 after recording 676 blocking snaps for the team a season ago.

Meredith, a former undrafted free agent in 2021, entered the league as a primary offensive guard. After serving as a backup guard with Las Vegas for three years, movement in the offensive line shifted him to the team’s starting center for 2025.

The 28-year-old played much better as a run blocker than a pass blocker in his first year as a full-time center. He allowed four sacks in 11 games before being placed on season-ending injured reserve with an ankle injury.

Las Vegas tendered Meredith, who was a restricted free agent, this offseason, showing they may highly value his positional flexibility and depth at the guard position. But, for the right price, he could offer a potential trade option for the Ravens’ revamped offensive line.

Who do you think the Ravens starting center should be in 2026?

The post OTL: Exploring Potential Post-Draft Center Options appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/05/04/out-to-lunch/center-options/