For more than four months, the Baltimore Ravens went into the offseason with arguably the biggest hole on their entire roster left unaddressed: who was going to replace Tyler Linderbaum at center?

That question finally has an answer. The Ravens signed veteran center Ethan Pocic to a one-year contract worth up to $4.5 million, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, giving Baltimore a proven, experienced option to compete for the starting job heading into training camp.

Why This Signing Was So Important

Linderbaum's departure left a genuine void in Baltimore's offensive line plans. Over four seasons with the Ravens, he started all 66 of his appearances and earned three consecutive Pro Bowl selections, establishing himself as one of the better centers in the league. When he signed a record-setting three-year, $81 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency, it instantly became the most significant loss on Baltimore's roster this offseason.

What made the situation more pressing is what the Ravens didn't do in response. Baltimore didn't draft a center this year, and didn't sign one in free agency for months, leaving the position essentially unaddressed heading into the summer. Without Pocic, the Ravens would have entered training camp relying on a trio with a combined 10 career starts between them: Danny Pinter, who made 10 starts across 77 games with the Colts from 2020-25, along with Jovaughn Gwyn and Corey Bullock, neither of whom has started an NFL game.

For a Ravens offense built around Lamar Jackson's ability to extend plays and operate at a fast tempo, the interior offensive line isn't a position where inexperience is easy to hide. Center is often the player making protection calls and line adjustments before the snap, which makes continuity and communication at the position especially important.

The stakes are higher given how much the offensive line as a whole regressed in 2025. After finishing with all five starters playing at least 16 games and a top-tier pass-blocking grade in 2024, Baltimore's line fell to 28th in PFF's pass-blocking efficiency rating last season, allowing 155 pressures and 17 sacks across 501 snaps. Jackson was pressured at a career-high rate through parts of the year, and the Ravens' rushing production before contact, an area where they'd led the league the year before, dropped noticeably as well. Injuries played a real role in that decline, with players like left tackle Ronnie Stanley missing time, but the drop-off across the unit as a whole was significant enough that addressing the offensive line became a clear offseason priority, one the front office pointed to directly heading into this year's roster building.

Who Pocic Is

At 30 years old, Pocic brings real NFL experience to a competition that badly needed it. He was Seattle's second-round pick in the 2017 draft and started 40 of 57 games with the Seahawks over his first four seasons before spending the past four years with Cleveland, where he made 57 starts. Across his nine-year career, Pocic has 97 career starts, easily the most experience of any center on Baltimore's roster.

His path to Baltimore wasn't a straight line. Pocic suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 13 of the 2025 season while with the Browns. He was recently cleared for training camp after what by all accounts has been a strong recovery, and he visited the Ravens back in May, shortly after Baltimore passed on drafting a center, an early signal that the front office already had him on its radar.

Cleveland, notably, chose to move on from Pocic this offseason, signing Packers veteran Elgton Jenkins in free agency and drafting Alabama's Parker Brailsford in the fifth round instead, all while stopping short of naming a starting center of their own heading into camp.

What Comes Next

Pocic enters Baltimore's training camp as the presumed frontrunner for the starting job, according to Ravens insider Jeff Zrebiec, but the competition isn't closed. Pinter, Gwyn and Bullock will all still get real opportunities to win reps, and nothing is guaranteed until pads come on and the coaching staff evaluates the position in live snaps.

Still, adding a player with Pocic's experience gives Baltimore's offensive line a level of stability at center that simply didn't exist a week ago. For an offense that will already be adjusting to a new coordinator in Declan Doyle and other changes across the coaching staff this season, locking down center with a proven veteran removes at least one significant question mark heading into camp.

The signing also reflects well on how the front office handled a difficult situation. Rather than reaching for an unproven option out of necessity back in the spring, Baltimore stayed patient, tracked Pocic's recovery, and moved once they were confident in his health. It's a low-risk, one-year deal that gives both sides real incentive: Pocic gets a legitimate shot to prove he's fully recovered and re-establish his value, while the Ravens get an experienced, credible option at a position that had become one of the more pressing questions on their entire roster.

With center now addressed, Baltimore's offensive line questions haven't disappeared entirely, but the most urgent one has a real answer heading into training camp.

The other pieces of the center competition still carry their own storylines worth watching. Pinter signed a one-year, $2.75 million deal with Baltimore in free agency after his time in Indianapolis, giving him a fresh opportunity even with Pocic now the favorite. For undrafted options like Gwyn and Bullock, camp represents a chance to make an impression on a new coaching staff that's still getting to know the roster it inherited. Training camp battles like this one often end up shaping depth charts well beyond the position in question, since how the interior line settles can influence decisions at guard and tackle as well.