No, the Kansas City Chiefs shouldn’t sign Earl Thomas
Earl Thomas is a free agent, but the Kansas City Chiefs shouldn’t be the ones to sign him.
Rewind back to the 2019 offseason. Earl Thomas was one of the most coveted free agents on the market and the Kansas City Chiefs wanted him to be a part of their revamped defense for the 2019 season.
They even offered him a contract, which was just a one-year deal worth $12 million. Had Thomas taken that deal, he’d have been paired with Tyrann Mathieu in the Chiefs’ rebuilding secondary and they’d have become one of the more iconic duos in the league at the safety position.
Thomas ended up receiving a much bigger offer from the Baltimore Ravens, who gave him a four-year deal worth $55 million overall and $32 million guaranteed. Obviously that’s the deal he went with because it’s clearly the better deal. It was for more money and for more years and he’d have been foolish to pass up on that for just a one year deal.
Looking back at things: Earl Thomas came close to signing a 1-year, $12M deal with the #Chiefs last offseason. KC wanted to pair him with Tyrann Mathieu. Baltimore swooped in towards the end and signed him to a 4-year, $55M deal with $32M guaranteed. One year later, he's gone.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 23, 2020
The Kansas City Chiefs had the last laugh though.
While the Chiefs went on to win the Super Bowl last season, Earl Thomas had his ups and downs in Baltimore. He was a Pro Bowler, yes, but he clearly wasn’t the same kind of player. He was released by the Ravens on Sunday due to an altercation with a teammate and now the Ravens will be on the hook for $15 million. They must have really wanted to get rid of him.
With all of this in mind, the Chiefs shouldn’t even consider bringing Thomas in for the 2020 season. He proved he’s dramatic during his one year stint in Baltimore and the play isn’t good enough to deal with that kind of drama, especially for a team that’s trying to do whatever they can to avoid a Super Bowl hangover.
Thomas will land somewhere and maybe he’ll bounce back and have a respectable season in 2020. He’s 31 years old and is past his prime, but he could provide someone with a reliable option at the safety position.
The Chiefs are covered at safety, as they have Mathieu, Juan Thornhill (who played where Thomas would have and did so admirably), and Daniel Sorensen as their main options at safety, so the need isn’t there for Thomas.
Had Earl Thomas opted to take the smaller deal and sign with the Chiefs, he could have won a Super Bowl and made even more money on the open market this past offseason.
The Chiefs definitely dodged a bullet here.