What’s next for the Lions after Frank Ragnow’s retirement

After a few months of clarity and consideration, Frank Ragnow — the All-Pro center who anchored one of the league’s best offensive lines — is calling it quits. In the end, Ragnow, 29, is prioritizing his long-term health. His seven-year career saw him play through injury after injury in an effort to help a losing franchise become a winner.

Advertisement

He’ll be remembered fondly for it.

“These past couple of months have been very trying as I’ve come to the realization that my football journey is ending and I’m officially retiring from the NFL,” Ragnow announced on Instagram on Monday. “I’ve tried to convince myself that I’m feeling good but I’m not and it’s time to prioritize my health and my family’s future. I have given this team everything I have and I thought I had more to give, but the reality is I simply don’t. I have to listen to my body, and this has been one of the hardest decisions of my life. It was an absolute honor going to battle for you all.”

Ragnow’s decision to retire was surprising to many, but not to the Lions. They’ve been in communication with Ragnow about his future for years, and have tried to prepare for this moment as much as they reasonably could. They’ve drafted several young interior offensive linemen. They’ve cross-trained players, and moved quickly to add depth after Ragnow’s retirement. Don’t think this wasn’t on their radar.

“We’re not going to pressure him to do anything or make any moves,” Lions general manager Brad Holmes said when asked about Ragnow’s future after the 2023 season. “But the communication will be diligent. It’ll be thorough, it’ll be respectful.”

Ragnow, after years of speculation, is finally ready for the next chapter of life. In turn, the Lions must now navigate life without him.

Here’s how they can do it.

What Ragnow meant to the Lions

Ragnow will go down as one of the best to wear the Detroit uniform and one of the best centers of his era, earning four Pro Bowl nods and three second-team All-Pro honors in just seven seasons. What he gave the Lions in the run game and in pass protection was special, and his elite preparation and football IQ helped him maximize his talents. He was responsible for alerting potential blitzes to the rest of the offensive line, while acting as a sounding board for his quarterbacks — Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff. He was one of the league’s best and brightest and could be left alone on an island because of his rare combination of physical talent and mental preparation. He was a special player.

Advertisement

Off the field, Ragnow was a beloved and respected figure in the locker room, and a Walter Payton Man of the Year finalist. He helped oversee the transition from Matt Patricia to Dan Campbell and helped the Lions turn things around. Ragnow’s contract was extended during this regime’s first offseason together, in 2021 — amid a complete roster teardown. That the new guys deemed Ragnow as one of the guys to build around should tell you everything you need to know about him.

There is no replacing a player like Ragnow. But the Lions will try.

In-house candidates to fill the void

Detroit is positioned as well as a team reasonably could be to overcome his departure.

Let’s take a look at some of the players who could be asked to handle center responsibilities — either in games or in practice.

Graham Glasgow: As things stand, Glasgow feels like the front-runner to replace Ragnow. He’s the only player with any meaningful experience at center. Players and coaches applaud him for his knowledge of the game, and at this point it might be his most valuable trait. That would be highlighted more at center than guard, and his ability to play the position was something Campbell himself acknowledged as a strength of Glasgow’s back in April.

“Graham’s somebody that we still value because he’s got versatility,” Campbell said. “…He can also play center. I think people forget that some. Man, he can do an excellent job at center. … So, yeah, we have confidence in him.”

Glasgow has been Ragnow’s primary backup since his return to the Lions in 2023, and those skills were needed. Glasgow’s 2024 season was bumpy, as he allowed the sixth-most pressures among guards in the regular season, and nine more in the playoff loss to the Commanders. Glasgow wasn’t fully healthy, but he is getting up there in age and doesn’t move as well as he once did. Kicking inside to center could allow him to maximize his football IQ, while providing the Lions with a veteran to help Goff and anchor the offensive line, rather than a rookie. It could also allow the next name on this list to develop at his own pace.

Advertisement

Tate Ratledge: The only real in-house challenger to Glasgow is Ratledge, a second-round pick out of Georgia. Ratledge primarily played right guard in college and only sparingly played center in practices at Georgia. But he has the goods to handle it, as well as the right mentality.

“Yeah, it’s different from guard, of course,” Ratledge said of taking center reps at rookie minicamp, “But I’m glad I’ve had prior experience playing center, so it’s nothing brand new to me. Coming back out here, getting the feel of it. But as far as center goes, you’re taking control of the offensive line, so I kinda like that aspect of it.”

Ratledge was a team captain at Georgia, winning two national titles in college. He tested as one of the most athletic interior linemen in the 2025 NFL Draft, with a 9.99 relative athletic score when evaluated at center. His closest athletic comps? Creed Humphrey and Frank Ragnow.

In addition to his athleticism playing up at center, Ratledge played through injuries for his teammates, took it personally when his quarterback was touched and is viewed as a cerebral lineman. Sound familiar?

If the idea was that the Lions could cross-train Ratledge to get him up to speed quickly enough to play center as a rookie, then Detroit’s draft — already strong on paper — looks even better. Now, that’s a steep learning curve for a rookie offensive lineman, so the fact that Ratledge has been taking first-team reps in OTAs could be more about the future than the present. But it certainly sounds like he could be the long-term answer.

He’ll have one of the league’s best offensive line coaches — a former NFL center himself, Hank Fraley — showing him the ropes.

“Center is not as natural for him yet, so you definitely tend to give him more reps at that, snapping the ball, making it more comfortable,” Fraley said of Ratledge last month. “… I know the young man, getting to know him more after rookie minicamp and prior to that, he’s going to do whatever I ask. …He definitely needs some time (at center), training. It’s going to become natural for him. …In time, he’s going to get it down and become a pretty good center here.”

Advertisement

Trystan Colon: On the heels of Ragnow’s retirement, it was reported Wednesday that the Lions are signing former Arizona Cardinals G/C Trystan Colon. A UDFA out of Missouri in 2020, Colon has started games for the Ravens and Cardinals in his career, including a career-high seven last season, all coming at right guard. Colon has four career starts at center and that experience makes him an asset on a roster without much besides Glasgow.

Colby Sorsdal: A fifth-round pick out of William & Mary in 2023, Sorsdal’s future in Detroit has been harder to visualize than other young linemen the team has drafted. They gave him a shot as a rookie, starting three games with mixed results. As a sophomore last season, Sorsdal appeared in just one game and didn’t log a single offensive snap — a healthy scratch for much of the season. Sorsdal was a tackle in college and was drafted to play guard, but he was spotted at center during OTAs last week. It could simply be cross-training, or it could help Sorsdal increase his value in a suddenly crowded interior offensive line room.

Michael Niese: Niese, in a bit of a surprise move, earned a spot on the 53-man roster out of training camp. When the Lions had a big lead and it was time to empty the bench, Niese replaced Ragnow at times, playing 34 offensive snaps. For Niese to be active most game days and trusted enough to step in speaks to how the Lions feel about him. However, he could be on the outside looking in with some of the new additions to the roster.

Kingsley Eguakun: A UDFA out of Florida last year, Eguakun spent the 2024 season developing on Detroit’s practice squad. It’s an investment that could eventually pay dividends. Eguakun was given a fifth-round grade by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler coming out of the 2024 NFL Draft, ranked as the eighth-best pure center prospect. Eguakun is intriguing because the Lions can allow him to grow at his own pace while stashing him on the practice squad. But he has plenty of competition ahead of him.

Cap implications

Ragnow’s retirement has not been officially announced by the team or filed on the transaction wire, but because it’s taking place post-June 1, the Lions have options for how they’d like to handle his cap hit.

Ragnow is due a guaranteed option bonus of $3.6 million in both 2025 and 2026, but since he’s retiring after June 1, the Lions could split that over two seasons.

If the Lions decide to eat those bonuses in 2025, they’d free up $5.6 million in cap space from Ragnow’s retirement for the 2025 season, with no cap hit for the 2026 season.

Advertisement

If the Lions use the post-June 1 retirement to pay out those bonuses over two seasons instead of one, they would free up roughly $9.2 million in 2025 from Ragnow’s retirement, while being on the books for a $3.6 million cap hit in 2026.

It remains to be seen which direction the Lions ultimately take, but they take a holistic view of the cap over multiple seasons, which is more important than year-to-year figures. In other words, what they do — and don’t do — in 2025 affects their plans for 2026, 2027, 2028 and so on. Just because there’s more money to use doesn’t mean it will be used.

(Photo: Junfu Han / USA Today)

Click here to read article