The Baltimore Ravens have lost defensive pieces in free agency, but added a major one by adding Earl Thomas. Grading the free agency signing.
With general manager Ozzie Newsome departing from the Baltimore Ravens, it appeared that a new, less defense-centric era was underway. Not only did the Ravens cut safety Eric Weddle, but they also watched Terrell Suggs, Za’Darius Smith and C.J. Mosley sign elsewhere in free agency. However, they may just have a new defense in mind, one with Earl Thomas starring.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Ravens will sign the former Seahawks safety to a four-yer contract. The new deal with Baltimore is for $55 million with $32 million guaranteed. An important note from Schefter is also that the Ravens will pay out $22 million of the deal in the first nine months that Thomas is with the team.
Thomas is a viable replacement, if not an upgrade, from Weddle in the secondary. While there is still work to do with their now depleted defensive front, this is a huge step forward for the Ravens in the post-Newsome era. But does this signing deserve a top grade?
Despite the fact that his 2018 season was ended prematurely due to injury, Earl Thomas showed — despite expressing his desire to get out of Seattle with no prospect for a new deal — that he can be one of the elite safeties in the NFL when healthy. He was an integral cog in the Legion of Boom for the Seahawks and is a bonafide game-changer with the way he can affect any game.
Adding that type of player to the Ravens secondary gives them a massive boost as a whole. Though they must rebuild what they’ve lost in the front seven, they can sleep soundly with what they have in the secondary. Thomas now shores up a group that will include Tony Jefferson at safety with him along with veteran Brandon Carr and 2018 breakout star Marlon Humphrey at cornerback.
What clearly makes this deal an A-level signing for Baltimore, though, is the front-loaded deal. The big concern about teams signing Thomas long-term this offseason was his age as he enters his 30s. However, with this deal paying out so handsomely early on in the contract, the Ravens should have the ability to get out of it should the star safety’s player begin to decline in the latter part of the deal.
Put simply, the Ravens needed something to refresh a defense that seemingly was bleeding, and they added a superstar to do so, a player that also makes at least one group on the defense an elite unit. With that and the structure of the contract, Baltimore is a winner with the Thomas deal.