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Earl Thomas... Traded???

Earl Thomas III

(This was written before his release) You may or may not have heard about the fight that happened during the Ravens training camp. But, apperantly, Chuck Clark and Earl Thomas had a fight. It may seems small and you are think, "Oh yea, that happens all the time." And... it does. The Bears had one early on with safety Deon Bush and TE Jimmy Graham. But, those types are the small types. Ones that are usually cleared by the end of the day. This one might have been a little bigger. Ravens HC Jim Harbaugh said that it was longer than it should have been. Even one of the Ravens players said that Thomas occasionally takes the intensity up a notch too much. It now looks like things have soured between the Ravens and Thomas. A trade, release, or some fines could be the end result. However, we are only here to discuss possible trade packages. So, here we go.

File:Xavier Woods (American football).JPG

Dallas sends: Xavier Woods, 2nd round pick, 5th round pick
Ravens send: Earl Thomas

Apparently, Earl Thomas was a Dallas Cowboys fan, so why not send him back to his childhood favorite team. Also, they could use him. The only things their defense is missing are DTs that can stay healthy for a good portion of the season, and better safeties. I'm not saying that Xavier Woods is so bad that he needs to be replaced right away as evidenced by the Cowboys not signing anyone else. But, if they want to make a deep playoff run, they might have to replace Woods. Why not try to trade for Thomas. The Ravens say that they feel good with their depth, so they might not have to worry about losing Thomas. Also, the Ravens heavy blitz scheme makes it a little easier for safeties. I watched some Earl Thomas film, and all he really had to do was cover his zone, he didn't have to make spectacular, play any one on one, or be super athletic. He had to just be smart and come downhill when there was a run. So, this would work out great for both sides. 

Zach Pascal

Colts send: Khari Willis, Zach Pascal, 2nd rounder
Ravens send: Earl Thomas, 7th round pick

I know that any Colts fan out there is thinking WHAT ARE YOU DOING????? Willis only entering his second year and he was a 4th rounder. Also, Pascal was decent and we kind need good depth. BUT, I will argue that Indy needs him because they want to make a playoff run. If you're safeties can't make plays, I don't think you are going to beat the Chiefs. Especially with both of them being in the AFC. Also, the Colts are sort of built to win now. I say that because they have a lot of very promising, or really good rookies. However, there are some weak spots, or they will appear next season. One thing would be that their safeties aren't really anything home to write about and Phillip Rivers isn't getting younger. Also, it's a great way for the Ravens to add a route running WR that has had decent production the last few years. Pascal is still on his rookie deal and he could replace Willie Snead next year. Imagine Hollywood Brown burning people over the top with Miles Boykin while Zach Pascal and Markadrews slice up the defense underneath (obviously, this would only happen a little less than most teams because of their run game, but still). All in all, we see it works out for both teams.


Houston sends: Kenny Stills, Eric Reid, 3rd round pick, 6th round pick
Ravens send: Earl Thomas

I can already see Texans fans trying to delete this off of the face of the earth. They don't want to give Bill O'Brien any new ideas. But hey, crazier things have happened. Also, the Texans could use some help in the secondary. All of their CBs according to SIS DataHub let up at least 2 TDs last season. Vernon Hargreaves was on on the Bucs last year, but their secondary was also not the best (it did come along at the end of the year though). Even though it looks like they did pretty good in coverage because they have low completion rates against them, it's because they were targeted so often. Teams knew that Justin Reid was the only decent guy back there. The only real knock on him was he had 14 missed tackles and he gave up 3 TDs (I'll place some of the blame on the secondary though for the TDs). According to Football Outsiders, the Texans' defense was 26th overall, 29th in the 2nd half of the season, and were no where to be found during the playoffs. I would say the inexperience of Josh Allen helped them win in against the Bills. This is also good for the Ravens because they get another free safety (that is good), a vet WR, and some extra draft capital to work with.  

Crazy Deal:

WR AJ Green
"WR AJ Green" by Navin75 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Bengals send: AJ Green
Ravens send: Earl Thomas and conditional 2rd round pick that turns into a 1st round pick with incentives and 5th rounder

This would obviously not ever be in the minds of anyone, but this a Crazy Deal for a reason. However, this would not be bad for both teams. The Ravens get a very very good veteran that when healthy, is going to dominate. But, the key here is healthy. That's where the incentives might come in. Also, with the Ravens run game, he won't have to be on the field too much. Or, teams would have to focus on him, so they would take resources away from the run, and they run the ball away from him so he doesn't strain himself blocking. It's kinda genius. On the other hand, the Bengals can get a proven safety, get extra draft capital for next year, and get something for Green who is only on a 1 year deal. It's essentially a win-win, except for the fact that they play in the same division and have to play each other twice a year. 

Thanks a lot for reading this as always guys. It would mean a lot if you followed and subscribe if you want. Again, thanks for reading and see you in the next one.







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