Baltimore Ravens sign Earl Thomas: Grade, reaction and more

The Ravens had a big hole at safety after cutting Eric Weddle. Signing Earl Thomas fills that hole in a major way for Baltimore.

Baltimore started free agency by losing four key free agents. Signing Earl Thomas isn’t going to help the Ravens replace C.J. Mosley, Terrell Suggs or Za’Darius Smith, but it should provide the team a nice upgrade over Eric Weddle at the safety spot.

GM Eric DeCosta still has work to do to replenish the team’s talent on the defensive side of the ball, but adding a potential Pro Bowler like Thomas is a solid step in the right direction. His style of play fits in perfectly with the brand of physicality head coach John Harbaugh likes to see in his team.

Contract Details

According to Adam Schefter, the deal will pay Thomas $55 million over four years. Interestingly, $32 million becomes fully guaranteed when he officially signs the deal and $22 million comes Thomas’ way in the first nine months. The contract will make Thomas the second highest paid safety in the NFL just behind the deal Landon Collins inked with the Redskins this offseason.

National Reaction

It’s pretty obvious that Baltimore sees where the NFL is headed. Offenses are more determined than ever to throw the football. As such, the Ravens are loading up on talent in the secondary.

Signing Thomas also helps keep the Ravens’ tradition of having some of the best safeties in the NFL alive and well

Ravens fans will definitely be happy to see their team responding to losing big-time talent early in the free agency process.

Ravens fans have every right to celebrate this signing given how much defensive talent they’ve already lost in free agency. At this point in the process, Thomas was the best defensive player left on the board. In some ways, it’s a signing Baltimore had to make.

Make no mistake about it, they are paying top-dollar for Thomas. That carries some risk given the fact that he’ll turn 30 next season. It’s certainly not a given that his performance will start to decline soon, but we’ve seen it happen to plenty of other players as soon as they hit 30. The Ravens front office does deserve credit for front loading the deal to make it more palatable by the time Thomas hits his mid-30s.

Bringing Thomas into the flock definitely helps the Ravens secondary, but that might not be enough to overcome the pass rush the franchise has lost thus far. Look for Baltimore to concentrate on edge rushers in the draft. Giving Thomas a big money contract won’t be an efficient use of resources if quarterbacks have all day to throw the ball.

In the end, this is a good, solid move by a team that still wants to make the playoffs in 2019. It’s not the best move of this free agency period, but it’s well above average.