Veteran safety Earl Thomas will sign a four-year, $55 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. His new deal contains $32 million in guaranteed money and will pay him $22 million over the first nine months of the contract. Thomas, a one-time Super Bowl champion, has spent the entirety of his NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks.
Former Seahawks’ S Earl Thomas intends to sign a four-year, $55 million deal that includes $32 million fully guaranteed at signing with the Baltimore Ravens, league source tells ESPN. Deal includes $22 million in first nine months.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2019
Earl Thomas Will Sign Four-Year Deal With Baltimore Ravens
The nine-year safety spent his entire career with the Seahawks and was a key leader of the secondary during the ‘Legion of Boom’ years. 2018 was seen as the last straw in Seattle for Thomas as he and the Seahawks could not come to an agreement on a long-term deal. Thomas held out for much of the off-season and eventually returned to the Seahawks prior to their first game of the season despite not having a new deal. He played in the first four games but unfortunately fractured his leg against the Arizona Cardinals. Thomas was carted off the field and in the heat of the moment, flipped off the Seahawks sideline as he entered the locker room. He finished 2018 with 22 tackles and three interceptions.
In 2017, the safety recorded 88 tackles, seven pass deflections and two interceptions in 14 games. Thomas was also selected to his sixth-career Pro Bowl. The previous year, he only played in 11 games for the Seahawks due lingering lower body injuries. Thomas recorded 46 tackles, 10 pass deflections and two interceptions in 2016 but eventually was placed on the injured reserve in December after breaking his tibia.
From his rookie season in 2010 through 2015, Thomas never missed a game and became one of the league’s most reliable safeties. He recorded 60 or more tackles each of those six seasons and was named first team all-pro in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He set his career high in tackles during the 2014 season, recording 122 tackles to go along with five pass deflections, four forced fumbles and one interception. Thomas’ career-high in interceptions is five which he recorded in 2010 as a rookie, in 2013 on the way to the Seahawks Super Bowl victory and in 2015 when he was nominated for fifth consecutive Pro Bowl.
Thomas has played in 12 career postseason games and has 82 tackles, two interceptions and one forced fumble in those games. The safety recorded seven tackles and one tackle for loss in the Seahawks Super Bowl victory over the Denver Broncos and then recorded nine tackles in the Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots the following year.
The former Longhorn played safety for two seasons at Texas before getting drafted by the Seahawks 14th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft.
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