In light of a critical injury to Tony Jefferson, the Baltimore Ravens should go-out and sign safety Eric Berry as his replacement.
There was once a time when Eric Berry and Earl Thomas reigned supreme in the NFL as the league’s top-two safeties. They were interchangeable as to who was better, but they excelled and looked to be future Hall of Famers. Teams would dream about having one of them on their team, let alone both. That could become a reality for the Baltimore Ravens.
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Of course, adding Eric Berry in 2019 isn’t the same as adding him just a few seasons ago. Nonetheless, Berry still has some juice left in the tank and could be a fantastic veteran addition to the Ravens defense.
Honestly, what choices are out there? Believe it or not, losing Tony Jefferson is a big deal, and while young guys like DeShon Elliott and Chuck Clark could be solutions, they don’t have Berry’s upside. Anthony Levine is much better suited in his safety/linebacker role with the team. Other than that, there’s few if any worthwhile safeties to trade or sign.
And before you go and try and argue that we should be trusting our youth, how’s that worked so far? Baltimore’s secondary, let alone the defense as a whole, has been shredded all year long. No one on this roster, as of now, is a long-term solution; so you might as well get a proven talent who can provide an immediate upgrade for the team.
In Eric Berry, you have a dude who survived cancer and has come back stronger than ever from it. Berry has torn both his Achilles tendon and his ACL and still played at a high-level. Don’t let his past or age (30-years old) fool you; Berry is still a high-quality safety.
To add on to this, Eric Berry strikes fear into the heart of opposing offenses. Not only is Berry a surprisingly good player with the ball in his hands, but he is an absolute thumper. Berry punishes receivers who dare march in his direction. Baltimore needs an ass-kicker in the secondary and Berry would provide exactly that.
The Baltimore Ravens need all the help they can get defensively, and beggars can’t be choosers. The fact that Eric Berry remains on the market may be alarming for some, but he could very well be a diamond in the rough just waiting for the right team to take a chance on him. If I’m the Baltimore Ravens, I would bring him in ASAP.