While Cleveland’s acquisition of three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson sent the latest shock waves through the AFC on Friday afternoon, former Ravens center Bradley Bozeman agreed to a one-year deal with Carolina.
Though a robust market for his services didn’t materialize after Bozeman and the Ravens never got close to a contract extension in recent months, the 27-year-old will now join the Panthers and try to cash in next offseason. Meanwhile, the Ravens will have their sixth different Week 1 starting center since Matt Birk’s retirement following Super Bowl XLVII, a lack of continuity that’s hindered their offense at various points over the last decade.
A 2018 sixth-round pick out of Alabama, Bozeman started 49 games at left guard and center over his four seasons and had missed only one game over the last three years, the kind of durability Baltimore could appreciate after its injury-ravaged 2022 campaign that ended with a six-game losing streak. Pro Football Focus graded Bozeman 11th among qualified centers last season, 41st among qualified guards in 2020, and 35th among qualified guards in 2019, but the Ravens — and other teams apparently — appeared reluctant to meet Bozeman’s asking price for a multiyear contract. The 6-foot-5, 325-pound lineman will also be very difficult to replace in terms of his community work after twice being the team’s nominee for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
“We’ve done so many great things with this city in mind, and it’s been amazing. It’s been an amazing journey,” Bozeman said the day after the 2021 season concluded. “I’m just so, so, so grateful and blessed to have called myself a Raven for the last four years. I hope it’s the next four more, but we don’t really know right now. But we’ll figure that out this offseason and see what happens. It’s just been a great place to call home the last four years.”
With Bozeman departing, it remains to be seen whether the Ravens will sign a notable free-agent center such as former Cleveland Brown JC Tretter, target a draft prospect like Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum, or hold an in-house competition between Patrick Mekari and Trystan Colon to fill the starting center job for 2022. Signed to a three-year, $15.45 million extension last December after filling in as Baltimore’s starting right tackle last season, Mekari started a combined 13 games at center over the previous two seasons, which included three playoff contests. A 2020 undrafted free agent out of Missouri, Colon has made three career starts at center, including the Week 17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams when Bozeman sat out due to an illness.
The Ravens improved their right tackle picture earlier this week by signing veteran Morgan Moses to a three-year, $15 million contract, but the uncertainty surrounding the health of left tackle Ronnie Stanley’s ankle still leaves a dark cloud over an offensive line that must now replace a reliable starter from the last three seasons.
Below is how the Ravens stood in free agency as of Friday evening:
ADDITIONS
S Marcus Williams
OT Morgan Moses
DT Michael Pierce
LOSSES
TE Eric Tomlinson (Denver)
CB Anthony Averett (Las Vegas)
C Bradley Bozeman (Carolina)
QB Josh Johnson (Denver)
REMAINING FREE AGENTS
ILB Otaro Alaka
ILB Chris Board
ILB Josh Bynes
DE Calais Campbell
CB Khalil Dorsey
S DeShon Elliott
DT Justin Ellis
ILB L.J. Fort
RB Devonta Freeman
OLB Justin Houston
OT Brandon Knight
OLB Pernell McPhee
RB Latavius Murray
FB Patrick Ricard
OT David Sharpe
CB Jimmy Smith
WR Sammy Watkins
CB Chris Westry
DT Brandon Williams
