Nnamdi Madubuike neck surgery leaves doctors believing Ravens DT could play this season, per report

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The Baltimore Ravens could get a big lift this offseason, and not from free agency, a trade or the NFL Draft. According to a report from ESPN, defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike underwent surgery last week that left his doctors believing that he will be able to play this upcoming season.

Madubuike had suffered a career-threatening neck injury during Week 2 of the 2025 season and missed the rest of the year, but now it looks possible that he could return to the fold. That would obviously be a massive development for the Ravens, who badly missed his presence on the interior of their defensive line last season.

Baltimore's defense ranked in the top 10 in both yards and points allowed in each of the three seasons prior to 2025 (the first three where Madubuike was a full-time starter), while also checking in third in EPA allowed per play over that three-year stretch, via TruMedia. In the first season they had to play almost entirely without Madubuike, the Ravens plummeted to 24th in yards and 18th in points allowed, as well as 15th in EPA per play.

In other words, they went from being an elite unit to one that was merely average or slightly below, with Madubuike's absence playing a significant role in that drop-off.

"Not having Nnamdi this year was a horrible situation for our team," Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said, per ESPN. "I think it affected us in different ways -- in many ways. He is a great player, a great person [and] a special person."

Madubuike was coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons in 2023 and 2024, and had been named a second-team All-Pro in 2023. Entering the prime of his career, he had totaled 25 sacks, 31 tackles for loss and 59 quarterback hits in the three seasons prior to sustaining this injury. His 153 pressures during that three-year span also ranked 24th in the NFL and sixth among players who played mostly on the interior of the line. (He'd also finished with at least 25 run stops in each of those three seasons, per Pro Football Focus.)

With a new head coach in Jesse Minter coming in and being charged with the task of fixing what went wrong defensively last season, getting Madubuike back in the fold would be a huge lift. The Ravens have players like Travis Jones, John Jenkins and Broderick Washington on the interior, but none of them rises to the level of impact that Madubuike can have against both the run and the pass. Having him on the inside would also take some of the pressure off of new acquisition Trey Hendrickson, who was brought in to provide pressure off the edges.

Of course, if Madubuike is unable to return despite doctors' confidence, it would leave the Ravens with a significant need on the defensive interior. They have the No. 14 overall pick in Thursday night's first round, but that's probably not the range where you'd want to select any of the defensive tackles in this draft class. They would have to go looking for a contributor on Day 2 or 3, and there's no guarantee that you get what you need out of that type of player.

Luckily for Baltimore, Madubuike has been participating in the team's offseason workout program and is "in great shape," according to director of strength and conditioning Scott Elliott, per ESPN. If he's already working out with the team, it seems optimistic for his chances of getting back on the field for 2026. And if he does, that obviously bodes well for the Ravens' chances of fixing what went wrong last season.