Ravens Didn’t Replace Tyler Linderbaum in 2026 NFL Draft and Now We Know Why

Baltimore's General Manager Eric DeCosta and the rest of the Ravens front office did not select a center with one of their 11 rookie selections.

Jan 29, 2026; Owings Mills, MD, USA; Eric DeCosta at Jesse Minter’s press conference at Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Lexi Thompson-Imagn Images | Lexi Thompson-Imagn Images

There's no way to sugarcoat losing new Las Vegas Raiders center Tyler Linderbaum.

After four quick seasons in Baltimore, 2022 Ravens first round draft selection Linderbaum racked up three Pro Bowl selections and commanded a strong offensive line with veterans like Ronnie Stanley and Kevin Zeitler. Linderbaum signed with the Raiders to a three year deal worth $81 million and $60 million in guaranteed money. Linderbaum became the highest-paid center in NFL history and will block for quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza.

Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta sat down with The Lounge podcast to give fans a bit of insight into his draft strategy. DeCosta considers the draft to be his "sweet spot" on the NFL calendar. The Ravens drafted two offensive lineman with their 11 selections, but neither of them were centers to replace Linderbaum and now we have a better idea of why the draft turned out that way for Baltimore.

Baltimore's top choices weren't available

Interior offensive lineman was clearly a top need for the Ravens front office to address in the draft. DeCosta opened the draft with a guard selection and closed the draft with another guard selection. He selected Vega Ioane out of Penn State with the No. 14 overall pick and Evan Beerntsen out of Northwestern with the No. 253 overall pick.

The Ravens showed great interest in centers Logan Jones out of Iowa and Jake Slaughter out of Florida, both of whom got selected in the second round of the NFL Draft. Their draft position caught the Ravens front office off guard.

#Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said the team’s top two centers were Logan Jones (Bears, No. 57) and Jake Slaughter (Chargers, No. 63) and they didn’t expect both to go in Round 2.

This is good context on why the Ravens didn’t draft a center despite it being a major need.

(📽️ @Ravens) https://t.co/I0pzfmVgnB pic.twitter.com/f4WylYBD12

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) April 30, 2026

"There were two centers that we thought we really liked a lot, Logan Jones and Jake Slaughter...we thought there was a pretty darn good chance we would've gotten one of those guys in the third."

DeCosta said he, "never really contemplated both guys getting picked after we picked Zion, before the start of the third round."

DeCosta cited Zion Young being available at No. 45 as part of his reasoning for not selecting a center earlier. The Ravens had Young as a first round talent. He also explored trading up from No. 80 back into the second round to select one of the centers. They ended up selecting wide receiver out of USC Ja'Kobi Lane with their first third round pick.

It came down to Young being rated higher than Jones and Slaughter on their board, and no other centers being rated higher than other selections they made throughout the draft. Slaughter was selected with the second-to-last pick of the second round at No. 63.

The next true center selected after Slaughter came in the fourth round when the Bengals selected Auburn center Connor Lew. Trey Zuhn III was drafted to the Raiders as a center 11 picks after the Ravens selected Lane, but he's set to play guard in the NFL and also played tackle most of his time in college.