Ravens fans still hoping for former Cleveland center JC Tretter to replace Bradley Bozeman shouldn’t hold their breath if we’re to take John Harbaugh’s word for it.
Speaking at the annual NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida on Monday morning, the head coach said he would “highly doubt” Baltimore’s next starting center to come via free agency. And though the draft would “obviously” be an avenue for adding competition, Harbaugh didn’t sound like someone fretting about his current in-house centers.
“We have great options right in our locker room right now,” Harbaugh said. “Pat Mekari, Trystan Colon — those guys have done a great job for us. I love the way those guys play [and] love the way they’re developing. Of course, Pat, he’s played lots of football, and he can do it. He’ll step right in probably as the starter, and then Trystan will compete. We’ll see where we’re at from there.”
While the versatile Mekari started 12 games at right tackle last season and played well enough to earn a three-year, $15.45 million contract extension in late December, the 6-foot-4, 308-pound lineman started a combined 13 contests at center over his first two seasons, which included each of Baltimore’s three playoff contests in 2019 and 2020. Pro Football Focus graded the 2019 undrafted free agent out of Cal-Berkeley as the league’s 14th-best center during his rookie season and 22nd among qualified centers in 2020, replacing then-incumbent starter Matt Skura in each campaign.
Critics will fairly point to Mekari having past difficulties snapping the football — the Ravens’ 2020 postseason loss at Buffalo was particularly ugly in that regard — and not being a strong run blocker to this point in his career, but his high marks in pass protection would help calm concerns about keeping a cleaner pocket for star quarterback Lamar Jackson. Colon, a 2020 undrafted free agent out of Missouri, has made three starts at center over his first two seasons, but he struggled filling in for Bozeman in the penultimate game of the 2021 campaign against the Los Angeles Rams.
With Harbaugh not dismissing the draft as an avenue to find Baltimore’s long-term answer at center, many will continue to link the Ravens to Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum, who is widely regarded as the top prospect at the position. But nearly a decade of evidence should leave one skeptical about the odds of general manager Eric DeCosta using the 14th overall pick — or perhaps even an early Day 2 choice — on a center.
Dating back to the final season of Super Bowl XLVII center Matt Birk’s career, the Ravens haven’t used a draft pick from earlier than the fourth round on the position, instead relying on late-round selections and undrafted free agents to develop there. They also haven’t employed a starting center playing on a second contract since acquiring veteran Jeremy Zuttah from Tampa Bay for a fifth-round pick in 2014. In his three seasons with Baltimore, Zuttah never carried a salary cap figure of more than $4.6 million, further reinforcing how few resources the organization has devoted to the position.
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That stance seemingly aligns with how some in the football analytics community have valued the center position in recent years, but that’s not to suggest there aren’t exceptions to positional value principles with the Ravens paying a premium for future Hall of Famer Justin Tucker at a position where the smartest teams don’t overpay for average production. In other words, if Baltimore projects Linderbaum as a slam-dunk All-Pro center, there’s little reason to believe DeCosta wouldn’t draft him. It’s just more likely that the Ravens would turn to a mid-round option like Nebraska’s Cam Jurgens.
Of course, the aforementioned logic sounds reasonable until remembering the 27-year-old Bozeman signed a one-year deal worth just $2.8 million with Carolina. If the Ravens struggle at center in 2022 while Bozeman thrives with the Panthers, criticism for allowing a respected veteran — on and off the field — to walk for so little will be more than warranted. The Ravens entered Monday with $8.397 million in salary cap space, according to the NFL Players Association.
“They’re getting a great person. His wife Nikki’s a great person. They do a lot in the community,” said Harbaugh about Bozeman. “He’s very smart, a tough player, very physical. He’s a big center [and] holds his ground in there very well. We’re very appreciative of what Bradley did for us for the last number of years [as] a sixth-round pick. Just a real tough, good guy.”
While the Ravens may sound confident handing the starting center reins to the versatile Mekari and signed the durable Morgan Moses to man the right tackle spot earlier this month, the key to their 2022 offensive line remains the health and availability of former All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who’s played in just one game since injuring his left ankle against Pittsburgh on Nov. 1, 2020. That’s why the possibility of DeCosta drafting an offensive tackle with left-side traits remains as relevant as any clamoring to take a center — even if picking a player at either position in the middle of the first round appears unlikely.
As you’d expect, Harbaugh expressed cautious optimism when asked about Stanley, who injured the ankle just two days after signing a five-year, $98.75 million contract and has undergone multiple surgeries over the last 17 months.
“I don’t know exactly the time frame. He is doing well by all accounts,” Harbaugh said. “Our new trainer, Adrian Dixon, saw him and said he’s doing really well. He told me he’s doing great. I can’t wait to see him back. He should be back for the offseason program. He’ll be still rehabbing at that point in time. We won’t be hurrying him back into practice by any stretch. We’ll be looking to get him back for the season. He’ll be very important for us.”
Far more important than who plays center this fall.
