The Lions may have been secretly telling us about Frank Ragnow's retirement all offseason, why nobody seemed to notice
On Monday, the Detroit Lions' world got rocked a little bit when All-Pro center Frank Ragnow retired from the NFL. It was shocking to fans and media because just days ago, there were reports that he was hoping for a new deal. While it was a shock to you and me, it might not have […]
On Monday, the Detroit Lions' world got rocked a little bit when All-Pro center Frank Ragnow retired from the NFL. It was shocking to fans and media because just days ago, there were reports that he was hoping for a new deal.
While it was a shock to you and me, it might not have been a shock to the Lions. Suddenly, you go back in time and you think to yourself, "Have they been telling us this whole time?"
Let's go back to February 2024, after the season ended, and it was a day of locker cleanout. Ragnow did not seem like a guy who was 100% certain he would be playing football again.
“I need to find a way to get back to Frank, and I don’t regret any of this at all, but it weighs on you,” Ragnow said at the time. “And I’m just going to take some time and really figure everything out to make sure that I’m feeling good, not only for me, the football player, but for me to be the best husband and best father and everything with that as well.”
Around that same time, Lions GM Brad Holmes had this to say about the potential of Ragnow retiring:
“We’re not going to pressure him to do anything or make any moves,” Holmes said. “But the communication will be diligent. It’ll be thorough, it’ll be respectful.”
Fast forward a little bit to NFL Honors, where Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press was told by Ragnow that he was not going to retire. Ragnow also kind of explained his offseason routine as of late.
"I just need a few weeks to get healthy," he said. "I guess my typical offseason routine is kind of get right back into it, but I think as I’m getting older, I need to understand that sometimes maybe less is more. And I just need some time to make sure I’m healthy, and then we’ll get rolling again."
Ragnow played in 2024 and made another All-Pro team as well. Then the Lions had an early exit from the playoffs due to dealing with a plethora of injuries. Ragnow was asked about his future on locker room cleanout day. He dodged those questions. Ragnow did say that day that he felt healthier than ever, though.
Fast forward to the league meetings right before the draft. Dan Campbell brought up Graham Glasgow and really went in on his versatility and talked about how he can also play center and how he's good at center.
Then you go to the draft, and the Lions take Tate Ratledge in the second round, and then double up on offensive linemen with the selection of Miles Fraizer in the fourth round.
At the time, it was cool to see more offensive linemen, but the question was, "Why are there so many interior offensive linemen on this team right now?"
The thing that really throws everyone off the scent of the idea that anyone could have known this would happen is Kevin Zeitler and Glasgow. Everyone knew after free agency that this team needed a new starting guard. With Glasgow, the team may be confident in him at center, but he had a down year at guard last year and is getting older. So it felt like the Lions were looking to replace those guys with the two guards.
Then Holmes talked about how the Lions plan to cross-train both Ratledge and Frazier at center.
“Yeah, absolutely. Again, (Lions Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach) Hank (Fraley), he’ll cross-train all those guys. He’s going to cross-train all of those guys, so if they’ve only been at guard, he’s going to put a ball between their legs and see if they can snap. But again, if they can – Hank’s not going to put somebody in a tough position either, so he’s going to be able to assess if they have the right makeup and mentality and communicative skills. That’s a big part of just – it’s not about just being able to snap, I mean, you have to have elite communication skills, not just as a starter, but even as a backup.”
The Lions immediately started working Ratledge at center at the rookie mini-camp, and since Ragnow wasn't at OTAs, Ratledge has been at center there too.
So there have been little clues all along the way. Nothing that really popped out at the time and told you it was 100% happening, but now, when you look back, a bunch of stuff makes sense.
3 potential offensive line combinations the Lions can go with in 2025 after Frank Ragnow’s retirement
Welp, who would have thought we'd be here at this point, right? The Detroit Lions just lost a big piece of their offensive line with the retirement of Frank Ragnow. Well, it happened, and now we all have to move on and see what the Lions do next. Taking a look at the roster, there […]
