WEDNESDAY, 11:54am: The Ravens have officially signed Weddle, according to the team’s Twitter account. Full details on the safety’s deal with the team can be found right here.
MONDAY, 12:32pm: Free agent safety Eric Weddle has made his decision, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, who reports that Weddle will be signing with the Ravens. The veteran defensive back had reportedly received offers from four teams.
“I couldn’t be more excited and pumped to be apart of a championship organization who wanted me from day one,” Weddle told Acee via text message.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link), Weddle’s new deal with Baltimore is worth $26MM over four years. Acee adds (via Twitter) that the deal includes $13MM in guarantees, and $9MM in year one. He also pegs the total value at $29MM, though that figure may include incentives.
Weddle, 31, spent the first nine years of his NFL career with the Chargers, who selected him in the second round of the 2007 draft. The ex-Utah standout appeared in 137 of a possible 144 regular-season games in San Diego, making 122 starts, piling up three Pro Bowl nods, five All-Pro bids, and 19 interceptions.
Weddle’s tenure with the Chargers was capped off by what was perhaps his most unusual year since entering the league. After being told by the team that his contract wouldn’€™t be extended prior to the season, the three-time Pro Bowler reported to camp and played well during the season, logging 76 tackles and six passes defended in 13 games.
While the contract situation was one point of contention between the two sides, the year ended on an even more acrimonious note, with the Chargers reportedly informing Weddle late in the season that he was being fined $10K for remaining on the field during halftime of a game to watch his daughter perform in a dance ceremony. Weddle and agent David Canter initially declined to go public about the fine, but the agent opened up after the Chargers placed the safety on IR in Week 17, a move that was made against his wishes. Per Canter, the team also informed Weddle that there would be no room for him to travel on the team plane to the regular season finale in Denver.
With Weddle and the Chargers set to part ways, the Raiders, Steelers, and Cowboys had been among the other teams to express interest in the safety. But he’ll take his talents to Baltimore, where he figures to start alongside Will Hill at safety.
It’s not yet clear what this means for Lardarius Webb — the veteran cornerback had been prepared to make a full-time change to safety this year, but there may not be a starting spot available for him. Webb could return to cornerback, or act as a depth piece at safety, but his $9.5MM cap hit would make him an expensive backup. The futures of players like Kendrick Lewis and Matt Elam are also somewhat uncertain, with Weddle now in the mix.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Enjoy the playoff view from the outside looking in bud!
3rd place in the AFC North and missing the playoffs this season… I thought he wanted to join a contender?
I thought he said he wanted to be on a contending team. Why did he choose the Ravens?
He can buy a lot of tickets to the playoffs with the money
Terrible deci$ion.
Smart move we will be back in playoffs this year!!!
Yeah you’ll be in the playoffs if you get a whole new offense and defense. Have fun fighting the Browns for last place!!!
You are so wrong look how many injuries the Ravens had last year, unreal, just watch us win the afc north bud haha, a whole new offense and defense HAHAAHAHAHHAHAHA Flacco was out ko was out, Monroe was out, forsett was out, Steve smith was out first round pick wr breshard Permian was out. Don’t say things when you have no idea what you are talking about ha.
Ben was out. Bryant was out. Miller was out. Bell was out. Shazier was out. Tuitt was out. We still made the playoffs. Then Brown and Bell were out in the divisional and we barely lost to the eventual Super Bowl Winners. I think you guys have some catching up to do……
I meant Brown and Williams…..though Bell was out too….
You forgot they lost Pouncey and Beachum as well as 2nd Rd pick Golson. All 3 of them missed the entire season. Then you had DeAngelo miss the playoff game as well but biggest loss for that game was Antonio Brown
Heck we lost our kicker even! Suisham!
Yet how many of those guys were out for more than 8 games and let’s not forget Terrell Suggs too
Pouncey (all season), Bell (10 games including suspension), Beachum (most of season). And you must not pay much attention to the Ravens because Flacco and Forsett were only out 5-6 games not 8. Steve Smith was out 7-8 but he wouldn’t have helped the team enough to make the playoffs.
Flacco was terrible last year before he got hurt and Forsett wasn’t anything special either. You can’t complain about everyone being out because most of them played at least 10 games last year. The Ravens still weren’t any good when they played.
I’ll admit I’m a Steelers fan. Look at all the injuries we had and still made the playoffs. Starting RB out, starting center out, starting LT out, starting QB out 3-4 weeks, and #2 WR suspended for first 4 games. Once we played Denver in the playoffs, they were all still out except for Ben (who was playing with an injured throwing shoulder) and Martavis and we played with a 3rd and 4th string RB and top WR in the NFL out and still would’ve won if it wasn’t for the fumble towards the end. So I don’t want to hear your excuses about having a team that sucks.
And still with a bum team we managed to beat y’all twice.
1
Don’t say things when your a homer fan thinking a 31 year old safety is going to turn your team into a playoff contender. Your team stunk last year and you act like your the only team that has ever battled injuries. Shows you how short on talent the team is; next man up when injuries happen. And you want to talk about a rookie WR coming off a season ending injury? Good luck hoping he can be near a 3rd WR this year.
Wow so much hate would love to see the steelers fans go crazy over weddle if he would of chose them, but instead he turned them down.
Honestly the hate started once the nimrod decided to blame the Ravens debacle last season on injuries. Every team has them and good ones know how to overcome them. No hate directed at Weddle. We don’t expect players like a top FA to sign in Pittsburgh.
I am a Ravens fan but it was a bad year and I’m not the least upset we all go through it and all teams need those high picks to stock pile talent. I just think weddle to the Ravens is a good signing by them to give them stability at the safety position and make it not a definitive need at the #6 pick in the draft
I like the signing. Helps the Ravens get back in the right track. Not to mention they are picking 6th this year thanks to all the injuries. The Ravens are never very active on the FA market and this year they have signed 2 big names. They know they have to build a solid team to mask some of Flaccos issues. The run game still needs a lot of help though.