The aftermath: A clear look at the Earl Thomas situation

The dust has settled on a short-lived saga that was Earl Thomas with the Baltimore Ravens. Now, we can truly look at how everything unraveled.

Clearer heads are supposed to prevail, right? The theory is that we make more refined decisions by stepping back from the initial emotional response to a situation, taking in the data available to us, and utilizing logic and rationality to define a proper course of action. You had to think that’s what the Ravens decision-makers were doing in that hold-your-breath time period between safeties Earl Thomas and Chuck Clark trading knuckles during Friday’s practice and Sunday’s announcement that Thomas would now be joining millions of his countrymen in searching for new employment.

Thanks to in-depth reporting from The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec and some plugged-in national scribes, the general public learned in that time period that this was not Thomas’ first rodeo in terms of irritating the powers-that-be with the Ravens, or his teammates. It all came to a head-on Sunday with a Tweet from the organization: “We have terminated S Earl Thomas’ contract for personal conduct that has adversely affected the Baltimore Ravens.”

And there you had it. The Pro Bowl safety the Ravens had watching the back of their talented cornerbacks and creating havoc within their havoc-creating defense was a Raven nevermore. Ravens Fandom, as it is wont to do, instantly began the process of demeaning Thomas’ work with the team and hyping up third-year safety DeShon Elliott as a replacement who would take the team to new levels. And, if not Elliott, then surely Jimmy Smith or the return of Brandon Carr could do the trick.

Or maybe Logan Ryan. Maybe Ed Reed could summon up one more season in the sun and lead the Ravens to another Lombardi trophy. Night Train Lane? Whatever the case, according to much of Ravens Twitter, the team would be better off without Thomas, who wasn’t all that good last year, anyway.

Only, he was actually good. He improved throughout the season, and while he didn’t pop off with 12 interceptions or a ton of game-changing plays, his coverage was borderline-stellar, he became an effective blitzer as the season went on and he did his part in keeping down the big plays after the first quarter of the year.

Trust me. John Harbaugh did not wake up Sunday morning and say, “You know what makes us a better team? Cutting Earl Thomas. That’s what.”

Let me stress this to make it completely clear: The Ravens are not better by losing Earl Thomas. But, in the same vein, it’s entirely possible the Ravens would be much worse if they kept him. This isn’t a case of addition by subtraction — it’s a case of subtraction could prevent the entire infrastructure from falling to pieces, catching on fire and turning into a giant mushroom cloud over Charm City, leaving the air rife with the scent of charred crab cakes and a shattered football team.

It became clear the players didn’t want Thomas around, and not solely because of personality. These are adults, and it’s on them to work with people they might not like from time to time. But the picture being painted on Thomas’ time with the Ravens is that of an individual who concerns himself with the individual, and not of the team. While that can work with tennis or wrestling or contemplative walks down a leaf-covered trail, it doesn’t cut the mustard in a defensive backfield. There has to be accountability to one another. Preparation and repetition through practice is not an option — it is oxygen.

I found myself hoping on Saturday that Clark and Thomas would show up in a press conference, start laughing about “boys being boys” and things would go back to normal. By the time the final announcement came, I was merely hoping for a trade. The Ravens could have gone the easy route here and hoped that things turned around, at least long enough for the team to compete for a championship.

Instead, they took the often-difficult path of doing the right thing. They cut bait with Earl Thomas because not doing so would have made hollow Harbaugh’s words to the team about accountability and hard work. They chose character.

And I ride with the team that takes that path every single time.