On Monday, the Baltimore Ravens agreed to terms with former Bears’ offensive lineman Sam Mustipher on a one-year deal, per The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec.
Can confirm this. Ravens have been looking to add more interior OL depth. They also didn’t have backup center after Trystan Colon signed w/Jets. Mustipher is an Owings Mills native, so he’ll be coming home. He started 40 games for the Bears over past 3 seasons. https://t.co/hkzPcf50KP
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) May 15, 2023
Mustipher, 26, is a Maryland native from Owings Mills, where the Ravens’ practice facility is, so this signing represents a homecoming. After going undrafted in 2019 he was signed by the Chicago Bears and has since started 40 of 43 games over three years. He’s been the Bears’ starting center for the past two seasons and has played over 1,000 offensive snaps in back-to-back years.
The Ravens have Tyler Linderbaum entrenched at the position but lost backup Trystan Colon in free agency, so this a needed depth signing. In the draft, the Ravens added two offensive lineman in the draft but neither is a center and one is not set to play in 2023 (Andrew Vorhees).
Patrick Mekari is the only other “center” capable player on the roster but he’s also a backup offensive tackle and could compete for the starting left guard role. So, the Ravens likely sought to have another interior lineman in the room, where Mustipher fits in. It wouldn’t be totally surprising either to see the Ravens give Mustipher snaps at offensive guard this summer too, as they have a tendency to shuffle offensive lineman around in different spots.
In 2022, Mustipher committed four penalties, allowed two sacks, and graded out with a 63.4 mark from Pro Football Focus. He was the 18th-highest graded center and his run blocking grade of 65.5 ranked No. 16 at the position.