The Ravens traded for Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens, taking a big hit to improve their injury-plagued offensive line and find a long-term solution at center.
Baltimore reached a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, who also had to reshuffle their offensive line on the road this season.
According to the Eagles, the Ravens sent Philadelphia a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick for Jurgens and a 2027 seventh-round pick.
Jurgens is currently in concussion protocol and is expected to make his Ravens debut next week against the Cleveland Browns, according to Schefter.
With three veteran centers on injured reserve, Baltimore was forced to move first-round guard Vega Ioane to center for last week’s game against the Tennessee Titans. Even though Ioane has played well, the Ravens now have a solid long-term anchor.
Jurgens, 27, started the season as the Eagles’ starting center but moved to left guard after Landon Dickerson landed on injured reserve and played there the past three weeks.
The Eagles’ offensive line has struggled, and Dickerson recently said he “felt bad” that Jurgens had to move to a position he had never played before. Philadelphia’s offensive line suffered another blow this week when longtime right tackle Lane Johnson announced his retirement.
A 2022 second-round pick out of Nebraska, Jurgens began his NFL career at right guard, but his best position is at center. Groomed to replace seven-time Pro Bowler Jason Kelce, Jurgens replaced him at center after the 2023 season and quickly became one of the league’s best players at his position.
Jurgens was so good in 2024 that the Eagles signed him to a four-year extension worth $68 million before the 2025 season, which made him at the time the second-highest paid center with an average of $17 million.
Former Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum shattered that number last offseason, signing a three-year contract worth an average annual value of $27 million with the Las Vegas Raiders. Jurgens is under contract until the 2029 season.
The Ravens attempted to re-sign Linderbaum. They tried to recruit his replacement, but the prospects they were targeting were taken earlier than expected. Baltimore pivoted and, ultimately, signed three veteran free agent centers, but Danny Pinter (knee), Jovaughn Gwyn (ankle) and Ethan Pocic (knee) all landed on injured reserve before the calendar flipped to October.
Now the Ravens not only have a proven, high-caliber center for the regular season and beyond, but also a player they can build around moving forward.
With Jurgens at center, Ioane at right guard and John Simpson at left guard, Baltimore has aggressively upgraded the interior offensive line and has veterans Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten as book blockers.
This is the Ravens’ biggest trade since dealing second- and fifth-round picks to the Chicago Bears in 2022 for linebacker Roquan Smith, a trade that went pretty well.
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