The Baltimore Ravens made a splash-move to sign Earl Thomas this offseason. The deal is worth $55 million over the next four years and includes $32 million in guarantees.
The Ravens cut Eric Weddle earlier this offseason, leaving a hole at their free safety position. Baltimore didn't wait long to find their replacement and they signed one of the best ones in Thomas.
Thomas played all nine of his seasons in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks. Over the course of those nine seasons, Thomas was one of the key members of the “Legion of Boom.”
The “Legion of Boom” included Thomas, Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Brandon Browner. After Browner left, the name stayed intact but Byron Maxwell took Browner's spot.
Now, none of the members of the prominent secondary reside in Seattle anymore. Thomas is in Baltimore, Sherman is in Seattle, and Chancellor was just cut due to a failed physical.
Thomas finds himself in Baltimore where they pride themselves on being one of the best defenses in the NFL every season. His persona of being a tough, gritty safety fits perfectly within the Ravens organization.
Thomas is coming off of an injury that held him out for the majority of the 2018 season. Therefore, the 2019 season is an important one to him.
Here are three early goals for Earl Thomas with the Ravens in 2019.
3. Display Ability to Still Be One of the Best Safeties in the NFL Still
To some people, they may believe that Thomas doesn't have much left in the tank. Thomas turned 30 years old recently but he still has a lot left to offer.
The Ravens didn't give Thomas a boatload of money for nothing. Last season, Thomas only started in four games due to a season-ending injury.
The former Seahawks safety started in just four games but his production was through the roof in those games. In those four games, Thomas managed to corral three interceptions, five pass deflections, and 22 total tackles.
In 2019, Thomas will want to pick back up from where he left off in 2018 before getting hurt. If he does, Thomas will find himself on an All-Pro team once again as one of the best safeties in the NFL.
2. Showcase His Leadership
There has become a narrative surrounding Thomas over the last couple of seasons. That narrative suggests that Thomas isn't an exemplary leader and a consummate teammate.
Neither of those is true and you can ask any of the Seahawks players, current or former. All of them have said how much of a leader that Thomas was on and off the field for Seattle.
The narrative began when Thomas knew that the front office in Seattle was likely to rid of him. The relationship between Thomas and the Seahawks seemingly continued to unravel until it finally was over last season.
When Thomas suffered his injury last season, he stuck both of his middle fingers towards the Seahawks sideline. This was to show his displeasure for how he was treated by the organization in recent years.
Some may see that as a red flag but this is a guy who just suffered a devastating injury and a lot of emotions were going through his mind. This offseason, the Ravens lost C.J. Mosley, Terrell Suggs, and Eric Weddle.
All of those guys helped lead the Ravens defense in the locker room and on the field. Thomas will want to show that he can be a leader once again for a dominant defense.
1. Get Back to Being Healthy
Again, Thomas' 2018 season was ended prematurely with a fractured left leg. The three-time All-Pro safety was playing at an elite level before suffering the injury.
In Thomas' first six seasons in Seattle, he started in all 96 games in the regular season. Over those six seasons, he yielded 21 interceptions, 10 forced fumbles, 45 pass deflections, and 383 total tackles.
In his last three seasons though, injuries have caught up to Thomas. He has missed a total of 19 games due to injury, 12 of them coming in 2018.
Getting back to being one-hundred percent healthy has to be at the top of Thomas' goals in 2019. When he's healthy, there's no question that he is arguably the most disruptive safety in the NFL.
Thomas is out to prove to the whole world why he's still one of the best in the NFL and prove to the Ravens that they made the right choice signing him.
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