The Detroit Lions solved one of their biggest needs when the NFL’s legal tampering window opened on Monday, agreeing with center Cade Mays on a three-year, $25 million contract with $14 million fully guaranteed, according to KPRC-2’s Aaron Wilson.
The deal, which can’t become official until the start of the new league year on Wednesday, fills the Lions’ hole at center, which has been in a constant state of turmoil since Frank Ragnow retired during last season’s offseason program. With Mays filling the spot of former starting center Graham Glasgow, who was released last week, it solidifies the middle of the offensive line, which is great news for second-year guard Tate Ratledge.
The Lions have toyed with the idea of moving Ratledge to center since he was selected in the second round of April’s draft, but never followed through, leaning on Glasgow throughout the 2025 campaign. When the Lions were eliminated from playoff contention last December, head coach Dan Campbell hinted again that Ratledge could move to the middle of the offensive line as he looked ahead to the 2026 season.
“That’s a good question,” Campbell said via Josh Helmer of Lions Wire. “I know that we felt like he could be a center, and that’s still not off the table. We’ve watched him at guard. He played right guard in college. He’s a good athlete. He’s a big man, he can move. We’ll find out.”
Glasgow’s release kept the embers burning for Ratledge to change positions. But Mays’s arrival pours a bucket of cold water on that idea and allows Ratledge to continue growing.
Cade Mays’s Arrival Keeps Tate Ratledge as Lions’ Right Guard in 2026
Mays broke out last season for the Carolina Panthers, jumping into the starting center role and holding his own. While his overall grade of 61.0 doesn’t jump off the screen, he was solid in pass protection, allowing 13 pressures and no sacks in 443 pass-blocking snaps last year, according to Pro Football Focus.
Brandon Thorn of Trench Warfare also loved the move, citing Mays’s fit in the blocking scheme established by new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and offensive line coach Hank Fraley.
“Mays is a brute-force presence at center who wins with size, length and raw power,” Thorn wrote in his free agent rankings. “In a gap-oriented, downhill run scheme that allows him to work vertically, he can create displacement and secure interior lanes with authority. His aggressive, brawling style can introduce volatility when forced to operate laterally or isolated in true one-on-one pass protection, but he did a nice job mitigating that last season by playing square and keeping his head out of blocks.
“Coming off his first season as a full-time starter, Mays offers tangible upside if placed in a system that accentuates vertical movement and reduces space exposure. He is not yet a stable, all-situations center, but his physical traits provide a pathway to above-average play in the right environment.”
This should be a better situation for Ratledge to grow in his second season. Playing next to Glasgow, Ratledge had an inconsistent rookie year, posting an overall grade of 70.3 but facing challenges with 24 pressures and two sacks allowed in 620 pass-blocking snaps. In addition to getting an upgrade to his left, Ratledge can go into the offseason entirely focusing on right guard as opposed to seeing what the Lions have in store for him when he arrives in the offseason program.
While the Lions need to figure out their left tackle situation after Taylor Decker was granted his release last week, the middle of the offensive line appears set, giving the Lions a deeper group in the middle and Ratledge a permanent home entering 2026.