One Trade the Baltimore Ravens Should Still Be Pushing After the Draft

Coming out of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens still had two glaring needs along the interior of both their offensive and defensive lines. After reportedly agreeing to terms on a one-year deal to reunite with six-time Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell last week, finding a new starting center remains their top priority.

The Ravens opted not to use any of their 11 selections in the draft to try to find a young replacement for three-time Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum, who departed in free agency to blow the top off the center market by nearly $10 million more per year.

Afterwards, general manager Eric DeCosta shared that the Ravens viewed only two center prospects as viable candidates to come in and start right away, but both were taken much higher than expected. They believed that they might have their pick of either Logan Jones of Iowa and/or Jake Slaughter of Florida at No. 80 overall in the third round, but both came off the board in the late second round to a team that has already addressed the center position with veteran options earlier in the offseason.

Ravens should trade for Garrett Bradbury

Jones was the first of the two to come off the board at No. 57 overall to the Chicago Bears, just 12 picks after the Ravens got an absolute steal in Missouri edge defender Zion Young at No. 45 overall. It came as a surprise from several standpoints, including value given that he was believed to be a late third-rounder at the earliest, and also taking into account that they acquired seven-year veteran center Garrett Bradbury in trade with the New England Patriots back in early March in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick.

Slaughter was the second-to-last pick in the second round at No. 63 overall to the Los Angeles Chargers, who intend to play the former Gator at guard despite being a career center only in college. They signed Pro Bowl veteran Tyler Biadasz to a three-year deal worth $30 million in free agency to replace former Raven Bradley Bozeman as their starting anchor.

"We thought both those guys were really, really outstanding players that could almost immediately help us," DeCosta said in a recent appearance on 'The Lounge' podcast. "I never really contemplated both guys getting picked after we picked Zion, before the start of the third round. I didn't really contemplate that, but I think the Bears and Chargers got good players when they did. It just didn't work out for us."

DeCosta also shared in that interview that while the Ravens are confident in their current in-house candidates, exploring a trade for a veteran could be a part of their plan to complete the overhaul of their interior offensive line with a new center.

"There will be options for us, potentially terminated vets, potentially trade options," DeCosta said.

One of those trade options they should strongly push to make happen is to acquire Bradbury from the Bears. They swiftly traded for him just three days after 2025 Pro Bowler Drew Dalman surprisingly decided to retire at 27 years old after just one year into the three-year deal with an average of $14 million.

Now that Chicago has Jones, who is viewed as a plug-and-play by the Ravens, general manager Ryan Poles might be willing to ship his team's initial contingency plan to Baltimore to recoup some draft capital in what is expected to be a loaded 2027 class.

Even though Bradbury only has one year left on his current deal with a modest cap hit of $5.7 million, the Bears might want to redshirt their highly-drafted rookie, who is healthy, athletic, a great scheme fit from the jump, and will be 25 before the end of his first year in the league.

A potential trade likely wouldn't materialize anytime soon

Bradbury would be a great fit in the outside zone scheme the Ravens are expected to heavily implement under new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and run game coordinator Dwayne Ledford. He is also fresh off anchoring an offensive line that blocked for a league MVP finalist in Drake Maye and made it through a gauntlet of elite defenses in the AFC playoffs to advance to the Super Bowl.

However, May is not the month when starting caliber veterans at key positions like center are moved before teams can see what they have in their incoming rookie classes. The Bears could hold onto Bradbury all the way until the onset of training camp or even the final cutdown date to make a final decision because that would not only give Jones plenty of time to prove himself but also could drive up the former first-rounder's trade value.

Patience has often been the key to the Ravens landing some of their greatest bargains and most impactful post-draft veteran signings. Some recent examples include signing nose tackle John Jenkins in 2025, trading for former Pro Bowl cornerback Tre'Davius White during the 2024 season and signing edge rushers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy off the couch post-August in 2023.

"Some of the best deals we ever made happened in June, July, August," DeCosta said. "I rule nothing out. Obviously, it's a position that we'll continue to look at."

In the meantime, the Ravens will see what they have with the likes of 2024 undrafted free agent Corey Bullock, veteran Danny Pinter, fourth-year pro Jovaughn Gwyn and whoever else they might try to cross-train that is currently competing for a depth spot at guard. Since they are currently slated to get a pair of fifth-round compensatory picks in next year's draft, trading one of those or their original pick in that round would be well worth the investment to give Lamar Jackson the best starting five linemen possible.

The offense and team as a whole are looking to rebound from an underwhelming 2025 campaign that resulted in seismic change on the coaching staff front this offseason, and completing the rebuild of their trenches would go a long way towards achieving that goal. If Bradbury is acquired by the Ravens via trade and plays at a moderate-to-high level, the 30-year-old could wind up being Linderbaum's long-term replacement.

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