The Ravens' biggest need coming out of the 2026 draft is arguably the biggest need entering the draft – center.

While Baltimore upgraded the interior of the line with first-round pick Vega Ioane, who will join veteran John Simpson to make a formidable duo at guard, the Ravens are still looking for a center to replace Tyler Linderbaum.

General Manager Eric DeCosta shared his perspective on the situation and why Baltimore didn't draft a center on "The Lounge" podcast Wednesday.

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

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

The Ravens have three in-house candidates in veteran Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gwyn, and Corey Bullock. Pinter started three games at center the past couple of seasons for the Colts. Gwyn was a backup in Atlanta under current Ravens Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Dwayne Ledford. Bullock was Linderbaum's backup last year.

One could emerge this offseason, but the answer may very well not be on the Ravens' roster currently. Veteran centers Graham Glasgow and Ethan Pocic continue to sit on the free-agent market, and more options will emerge as teams trim their rosters.

DeCosta said the Ravens had two centers "that we really liked a lot," – Logan Jones of Iowa and Jake Slaughter of Florida. After the Ravens picked outside linebacker Zion Young, who they had a first-round grade on, at No. 45, they targeted a center.

DeCosta indicated that he felt like they may have had those centers a little higher on their board than other teams', given their need.

Based on their models, DeCosta said the Ravens thought there was a "pretty darn good chance" they would get Jones or Slaughter at pick No. 80 in the third round, and he was even prepared to make a modest trade up to make sure of it.

Problem was that the Chicago Bears made Jones the first center drafted at No. 57 overall in the second round, and the Los Angeles Chargers took Slaughter not long after at No. 63.

"We thought both those guys were really, really outstanding players that could almost immediately help us," DeCosta said.

"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."

The Ravens could have drafted a center later, including on Day 3, but they saw a dramatic drop-off after the top two, and not somebody that would likely be a plug-and-play starter. Thus, they went in different directions.

When DeCosta thinks back on it, he doesn't reconsider taking a center on Day 3 as much as the possibility of trading way up back into the second round to grab one of their top two targets.

To do that, he estimated that the Ravens would've had to give up their third-, fourth-, and a fifth-round pick. Those picks turned out to be wide receivers Ja'Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt, and cornerback Chandler Rivers.

"Is it worth giving up those three players to go up and get your center? Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. My instincts told me that it wasn't," DeCosta said.

"As much as I regret not getting a center, being honest, I don't regret any of our picks at all. I love our picks. I love all of our picks. I'm confident that all of our picks, when we took them, were the best players for us at that point and time, and all of those guys have a legit chance to come in and help our team this year."

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