A turf toe injury from early in the 2021 season will be something Frank Ragnow deals with for the rest of his career. A missed game due to it always lurks, but the Detroit Lions' All-Pro center added a few more injuries to his docket over the course of last season. Not that you could tell, since he was Pro Football Focus' top-graded center. He is literally better at less than 100 percent than most guys are fully healthy.
With being after a tough loss in the NFC Championship Game as an important caveat, Ragnow gave a frank assessment of all the injuries he dealt with over the course of last season. He seemed to hint at considering retirement, and general manager Brad Holmes followed that by saying Ragnow would get all the time he needed to assess his future.
Ragnow didn't waste much time addressing the speculation about his future, telling Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press "I'm not retiring" at NFL Honors before the Super Bowl. But approaching his 28th birthday (May 17) and entering his seventh season, the litany of injuries Ragnow had last year have undeniably shortened his career. He is under contract through 2026.
Detroit Lions rumors: Will Frank Ragnow retire soon?
In a broad sense, the Lions could be thinking about what their succession plan is for Ragnow. If not in this year's draft, then quite possibly next year.
In talking about the Lions as a potential landing spot for Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson, a potential first-round pick and likely to be a top-40 pick, Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda dropped an interesting nugget.
"Also keep the Detroit Lions on the radar for JPJ. The Lions have an aging interior offensive line, including Kevin Zeitler, who they signed to a one-year deal, and former first-round pick Frank Ragnow. Sources tell me this could be Ragnow's final season, and he may retire once the Lions' 2024 season is completed."
While it may convenient to doubt Pauline's report based on the outlet he works for, it's really not that aggressive to suggest Ragnow could retire after next season. It's possible he has told the Lions he's playing one more year, even if that is subject to change, and it obviously will never be publicly said by him or anyone in the organization.
That being said, it'd be surprising if Ragnow retired after next season. To ignore the chance it happens would be foolish though.