The NFL trade deadline is in the books, and the Atlanta Falcons made two trades. First we have the Jessie Bates blockbuster trade from Monday morning, where he was sent to Jacksonville in exchange for a pretty major haul, but from there, we have a much less impactful trade to think about.
Just before the buzzer, the Falcons traded center Ryan Neuzil to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2028 sixth-round pick and OG Andrew Vorhees. And while this appears unimportant on the surface, Neuzil was the starting center for an underperforming OL and his contract was set to expire after the year.
Neuzil is set to reunite with his old offensive line coach, Dwayne Ledford, in Baltimore. But this is a scheme fit move on both sides as well, as he was never a fit for new Falcons' OL coach Bill Callahan, who prefers bigger, more powerful linemen compared to a guy who is 6-foot-3 and 303 pounds.
Meanwhile, Atlanta has to figure out who their starting center will be. Vorhees is 6-foot-6 and 330-pounds, and with Matthew Bergeron and Chris Lindstrom making nearly $45 million combined this season manning the guard spots, they could kick him inside to center, but that's unlikely. Without Neuzil, Corey Levin will most likely step in as the starting center--which is a pretty tall ask.
Corey Levin is the Atlanta Falcons' new starting center after Ryan Neuzil got traded
Levin is a Callahan guy through and through, so it's hard to consider this much of a surprise given their past together. They spent the last two seasons in Tennessee together and signed with the Dirty BIrds to follow his legendary OL coach here, so even my six-year old cousin can connect these dots.
The word of the day is trust: because Bill Callahan sure does seem to have a lot of it in a guy without much starting experience. While Corey Levin has appeared in 97 games in his career, he's made just seven starts, which is pretty damn scary, but he can't be much worse than Neuz was this past month.
With that in mind, the Falcons are making sure they come prepared with insurance. They signed C Gus Hartwig (a 2025 UDFA out of Purdue) as one of two practice squad additions shortly afterward, but after watching the 32-year-old get manhandled as the sixth OL in Tampa Bay, it's a bit worrisome. But he's been in this system for years and knows it well, so at least there will be no learning curve.
After a good season last year, Ryan Neuzil wasn't much better than a replacement-level starter for the Atlanta Falcons this season, and it seems like they traded him because they think they'll get similar production out of Corey Levin, with Ian Cunningham aware that Neuzil likely wouldn't be retained..
This is a pretty major audition for him down the stretch, and it could go really well or end in total disaster. And the only way to figure out which is to play.
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