As the NFL offseason continues to heat up, the Baltimore Ravens made big headlines. The Ravens are releasing veteran safety Eric Weddle, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The fact that Rapoport added the “wow” tells you all you need to know. This is a fairly surprising move, and not one of the obvious releases that have been happening this week. At the end of the season, Weddle said he would retire if the Ravens didn't bring him back. He walked those comments back shortly after, meaning this won't necessarily be the last we see of Weddle.

Weddle is 34 years old. Assuming he wants to keep playing, he'll be joining a stacked safety market. Landon Collins, Earl Thomas, Adrian Amos, Lamarcus Joyner, Tre Boston, Tyrann Mathieu, and several other big names are already slated to be on the market. The safety market took a while to get going last offseason; teams continue to place less value on the position.

As the Ravens enter the Lamar Jackson era, they're trying to get younger. The team has also said it won't necessarily bring back corner Jimmy Smith, so Baltimore's defense could look a lot different next season. Even though Weddle is getting up there in age, he has remained a very productive player.

Weddle made the Pro Bowl each of the past three seasons and is still very durable. During his three seasons with the Ravens, he played in all 48 games. Through his 12 seasons in the league he has never had any major injury concerns, and has never missed more than three games in a season.

Teams probably won't be too concerned about Weddle's age. If he does decide to keep playing, he won't have much trouble finding a new home. He didn't have any interceptions last year, but had 10 in the two years before that.