The Detroit Lions did not receive any awards at NFL Honors on Thursday night, but they did get a big win. According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, center Frank Ragbow left no doubt about his plans for the 2024 season.
"I’m not retiring,” Ragnow said, per Birkett.
Ragnow did expand on that thought.
“I just need a few weeks to get healthy,” he said. “I guess my typical offseason routine is kind of get right back into it, but I think as I’m getting older I need to understand that sometimes maybe less is more. And I just need some time to make sure I’m healthy and then we’ll get rolling again."
After the NFC Championship Game loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Ragnow was in a bit of a reflective mood when taking into account all the injuries he played through this season.
"I got to figure everything out," Ragnow said. "We landed at 5 a.m. (after the 49ers game) and now I’m just trying to process everything and take a look at my body and my MRIs and figure everything out."
"It takes a toll on you,” Ragnow said. “It really takes a toll on you, so I need to find a way to get back to Frank and I don’t regret any of this at all, but it weighs on you and I’m just going to take some time and really figure everything out to make sure that I’m feeling good, not only for me the football player but for me to be the best husband and best father and everything with that as well.”
Then, during his season-ending press conference this week, Lions general manager Brad Holmes didn't exactly shut the door on the idea Ragnow could retire this offseason.
Lions center Frank Ragnow unsurprisingly declares he's not retiring this offseason
Even with all he dealt with on the injury front this season, seemingly adding something new every week to a lingering toe issue, notably missing only one game after having meniscus surgery, etc. it never felt likely Ragnow would retire this offseason. He simply needed a little space to process everything, and now he simply needs time to rest and get healthy.
The Lions do have some question marks to address along their offensive line this offseason, with their top three guards (Jonah Jackson, Graham Glasgow, Halapoulivaati Vaitai) all headed for free agency. But any concern Ragnow would call it quits is quickly no more.