The trade deadline came and went until it didn't. The Atlanta Falcons stood pat at the deadline after the Jessie Bates blockbuster trade yesterday morning, but it turns out Ian Cunningham was doing work until the buzzer, as he had a deal in the works to trade away his second free-agent to be.
We all speculated about the next name that could be on the move: Tua Tagovailoa. Divine Deablo. Even Kyle Pitts and Mike Hughes' names surfaced. But the final trade of the deadline turned out to be none of them. Surprisingly, it was center Ryan Neuzil on the move, and he was headed to the Ravens.
According to Jordan Schultz, the Falcons traded Neuzil to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for OG/C Andrew Vorhees and a 2028 sixth-round pick. I hope you like crab cakes buddy, because you're going to protect Jacoby Brissett for a Ravens' team that needs about as much help on the O-Line it can get.
By sending the 29-year-old to Baltimore, Atlanta reunited Neuzil with an old friend: former offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford, who is now the OL coach in Baltimore. And it's fitting the deadline reunited them because he was full-on screaming at his guys during the Thursday Night broadcast.
The Atlanta Falcons are trading Ryan Neuzil to the Baltimore Ravens
The return isn't much, but it's better than letting him go for nothing since Atlanta more than likely isn't getting a comp pick out of him with the amount of 2027 cap space they have. But it was also unlikely they were going to retain him, because he doesn't fit the philosophy of new OL coach Bill Callahan.
Callahan prefers bigger, more physical linemen, and Ryan Neuzil is relatively undersized for a center at 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds. On the other hand, Andrew Vorhees is a power guard who started 17 games for the Ravens in 2025, but after they drafted Vega Ioane in the first round of the 2026 Draft, he was relegated to the bench.
And stylistically, he's a much better fit under Callahan than he is Dwayne Ledford. The 27-year-old stands at 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds, so he has the size to kick inside to center since the Falcons have Matthew Bergeron and Chris Lindstrom at guard, and given they're making a combined $45 million a year, they'll both continue to start.
Presumably, Corey Levin will step in as the Dirty Birds' new starting center for now, but Vorhees could push for reps there. Levin has just seven starts at center in his career, but given Michael Penix Jr. struggled with taking snaps from Neuzil, it was time to pursue a change and get something for him. It's not much, but Ian Cunningham's philosophy is to add draft capital wherever you can.
Ryan Neuzil was the replacement center after Drew Dalman left in free agency, and he was great last season, but regressed this year. According to Pro Football Focus, he was the NFL's sixth-highest graded center last year, but has been outside the top 16 this season, so he was never a long-term fix.
It just wasn't working, so while this trade sort of came out of left field, the Falcons are in the business of offloading assets, and that means unless you're a core player, nobody is off-limits on the trade market.
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