This year’s NFL Draft has the chance to get wild in the trade department. In a class where the high-end talent is hard to come by, teams could get desperate to trade up for the prospects who could be game-changers. With the Baltimore Ravens picking at 14, they could find themselves in the middle of that chaos.
Baltimore could be aggressive come draft time. They are coming off an extremely disappointing 2025 campaign and are tied for the second-most picks with 11. It’d be an uncharacteristic move, but they have plenty of ammo to move up if they wanted to.
If they were to trade up, Miami’s Rueben Bain has the attention of the Ravens fanbase. He’s one player who has been a red-hot name throughout the draft process and has been mocked to Baltimore. Former Raven Michael Pierce isn’t convinced it’d be a smart move, though.
On an episode of the Black Wing Playbook, Pierce mentioned he wouldn’t be too fond of moving up for Bain.
“So with this whole Rueben Bain stuff. I’m going to turn off my TV if we trade up and draft him,” Pierce said. “What on Earth do you do with Mike Green? And what does that tell him? Because if you draft somebody at 14, home’s got to start. Unless you have a player of worth, you have to give up something.”
Michael Pierce gives reasoning against Baltimore Ravens trade-up scenario for Rueben Bain
First and foremost, the only way the Ravens will likely land Bain is if he somehow falls all the way to 14. I’m sure in that case, Pierce would be satisfied with the pick. However, as it stands right now, that’s extremely unrealistic. After a tremendous 2025 showing and Pro Day that backed things up, he seems like a top-10 lock. It’ll almost definitely have to be a trade-up scenario, which Baltimore rarely does.
If you do trade assets to go up and select Bain, you’re putting a lot of eggs into that pass rush basket this offseason. Sure, he’s been getting a ton of hype, and a lot of that’s warranted, but there have been major investments there over the past two seasons: Trey Hendrickson and Mike Green.
In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Ravens selected Green with their second-round pick. In free agency, they signed Hendrickson to a four-year, $112 million contract. Those are expected to be the two starters off the edge, and while Baltimore was reportedly interested in pairing Hendrickson with Maxx Crosby, and is also in desperate need of pass rush help after posting just 30 sacks last season, trading up for another edge rusher may be too rich, given their other needs.
On paper, all signs should be pointing toward the Ravens selecting a wide receiver and an interior offensive lineman with their first two picks. So, while yes, drafting Bain may be the best possible outcome in terms of talent, they’d also probably have to trade pick 45 to go get him. That’d put them at a severe disadvantage if they wanted to draft a starting-caliber wideout and offensive lineman in the first two days of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Ultimately, though, Baltimore will be looking to draft the best player available. It’s how general manager Eric DeCosta and the front office operate. In the same breath, they almost never trade up. If they see an opening for Bain, they might take it, but it’s an unlikely scenario.