The Oakland Raiders will miss out on signing safety Eric Weddle, who will be taking a four year deal from the Baltimore Ravens.
Needing a safety to replace the legendary Charles Woodson, the Oakland Raiders are quickly running out of options near the top of the list of available safeties as another big name came off of the market on Monday morning. The player who was attached to the Raiders the most in early March opting to go elsewhere in a signing that shocked most around the league.
Eric Weddle has decided to spurn the Raiders amongst a list of three favorites who many expected to sign Weddle to instead sign a four-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens. A move that comes as a surprise to many who saw Weddle either staying in California and the AFC West with the Raiders or moving to a proven contender such as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers or New England Patriots.
Instead, it will be the Ravens who will land the five-time All-Pro, paying $26 million over the next four years for Weddle’s services.
Ravens gave former Chargers S Eric Weddle a 4-year, $26 million deal, including $13 million in first two years, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2016
Ravens add Eric Weddle, who has led PFF's safety rankings in two of the last four seasons. https://t.co/EyRcVHZljk pic.twitter.com/EI3izUhiI8
— PFF (@PFF) March 14, 2016
It will be a loss for the Raiders missing out on Weddle, who looks like he took the biggest money offer on the table and ran to Baltimore who will be paying good money for the now former Charger. With that it is back to the drawing board for McKenzie and the Raiders, who need to upgrade a safety position that was horrendous for much of 2015 outside of Woodson’s playmaking. Whether it be through a second-tier free agent or through the draft, the Raiders will have to come up with a plan to fix a position that would have been solved by signing Weddle.