Frank Ragnow ends retirement, returns to give Lions a 4-time Pro Bowl center for stretch run

DETROIT (AP) – Frank Ragnow has ended his retirement from the NFL after nearly six months, giving the Detroit Lions a four-time Pro Bowl selection for the stretch run of the regular season and perhaps the playoffs.

The 29-year-old Ragnow was reinstated off the retirement list on Wednesday in a move welcomed by the Lions.

His replacement, Graham Glasgow, was ruled out with a knee injury for the game against the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving.

Ragnow stepped away from the game last June.

“I have given this team everything I have and I thought I had more to give, but the reality is I simply don’t,” Ragnow said last summer. “I have to listen to my body and this has been one of the hardest decisions of my life.”

While Ragnow was away from the game, he kept in contact with the Lions.

Detroit drafted Ragnow No. 20 overall in 2018 and he endured multiple injuries during his career. In 2021, following a season in which he played with a fractured throat, general manager Brad Holmes made him the league’s highest-paid center at the time with a $54 million, four-year extension.

Ragnow earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2020, 2023 and 2024. He was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2020 under then-coach Matt Patricia, and then made three straight from 2022-24.

“He’s one of the best centers I’ve ever had the privilege to play against,” veteran defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said last summer. “I know that every time I had to play against him, I had to buckle my chinstrap extra tight and watch a lot of extra film.”