The Ravens’ center situation went from manageable to urgent in one game.
Baltimore lost both Jovaughn Gwyn and Ethan Pocic to long-term injuries against the Dallas Cowboys, and head coach Jesse Minter said neither is expected back quickly. That left the Ravens without another healthy center on the roster and forced Vega Ioane into emergency duty in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win in Rio de Janeiro.
Now the question is no longer whether Baltimore needs help at center. It’s how the team wants to get it.
For the moment, the Ravens are planning to keep Ioane there. The team could still add a center to the roster, but the immediate path is for Ioane to continue handling the position as Baltimore prepares for Week 4 against the Tennessee Titans. Ioane’s move came in real time against Dallas, when both Gwyn and Pocic went down and the Ravens had to improvise on the fly.
Minter has already framed the injuries in blunt terms, calling them “long-term type” injuries and saying he does not expect either player to return quickly. That matters because Baltimore’s center depth had already been tested before Sunday.
The Ravens’ run of bad luck at the position began in August, when projected Week 1 starter Danny Pinter suffered a torn patellar tendon that ended his season. Baltimore had tried to build some protection around that possibility in March, signing Pinter and Jovaughn Gwyn as veteran backups. But with Pinter out for the year and Gwyn now sidelined, the plan has been stripped down to the bare minimum.
That leaves the Ravens weighing a short-term internal fix against outside help.
One possible name has already surfaced. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic identified Chicago Bears center Garrett Bradbury as an “intriguing potential trade option,” and Baltimore had already inquired about him after the Bears used a second-round pick on Iowa center Logan Jones in the 2026 NFL Draft. Bradbury is currently ranked 27th among centers by Pro Football Focus, giving the Ravens at least one concrete trade avenue to consider if they decide the current setup is too thin.
The urgency is obvious. Baltimore does not have another healthy center on the roster, and Ioane was forced into the job after both Gwyn and Pocic exited against Dallas. That makes the next few days less about exploring possibilities than choosing among them.
The Ravens’ center plan has been reduced to a simple test: trust the internal answer they already used in a game, or move quickly for help before the shortage becomes even harder to manage.