Last offseason, the Baltimore Ravens' addition of Eric Weddle was one of the coups of free agency, as the star safety continued to play at the Pro Bowl-level he produced for nearly a decade while with the then-San Diego Chargers.
This offseason, the Ravens bolstered their secondary once again by adding the underrated Tony Jefferson, potentially giving them one of the league's most dominant safety tandems in 2017.
After acting as a mentor to less experienced players for the majority of his career, Weddle is grateful for a partner who knows the game inside out like he does.
"No disrespect to any of the guys I've played with, but it's nice not to have to explain why I do certain things or why I'm doing this in this coverage," Weddle said, according to The Baltimore Sun's Childs Walker. "From day one, he already had a feel for how I play and how to work off me.
"It frees me up a lot more mentally. I don't have to tell him after each play why I did this or, before the snap, let's do this. He already knows. That is just light years ahead of most guys I've played with. I've loved every guy I've played with, but he's just on another level."
The Ravens will once again rely on their stellar defense to get them back to the playoffs after two seasons without a postseason appearance.
Weddle's arrival pushed the Ravens from 24th in points allowed per game in 2015 (25.1) to 9th in 2016 (20.1), and Baltimore will likely hope their new starting safety pairing's growing chemistry will cook up another leap for the unit.
