Ravens: 4 surprise cuts the team could make this summer
By Justin Fried
3. Ben Bredeson, OG, Ravens
The Ravens loathe cutting draft picks early in their careers — more on that later — but they could make an unfortunate exception to their rule for guard Ben Bredeson.
The Ravens bolstered their interior offensive line depth in the offseason signing Kevin Zeitler, drafting Ben Cleveland, and moving Bradley Bozeman over to center.
Suddenly, the interior offensive line has a chance to be a true strength of the offense as opposed to the inconsistent mess that it was late last season.
Behind the projected starters are the versatile Patrick Mekari and homegrown talents such as Ben Powers and Tyre Phillips (who also should see time at offensive tackle).
Then there’s Ben Bredeson. A 2020 fourth-round pick, Bredeson was an afterthought as a rookie only playing 48 total offensive snaps despite countless injuries to Ravens offensive linemen.
Baltimore seemingly gave every young offensive lineman a chance to start except for Bredeson. And heading into the summer, he finds himself slightly buried on the depth chart once again.
Mekari, Powers, and Phillips should all be roster locks. That likely leaves Bredeson competing with the likes of veteran Michael Schofield and former undrafted free agent Trystan Colon-Castillo for the final backup interior role — if there is one.
Schofield has 69 career starts under his belt and could be a dark horse to make the roster while Colon-Castillo was thrust into a difficult situation last year and held his own.
The Ravens don’t want to cut ties with a fourth-round pick so soon, but a poor showing in training camp might force their hand.