Now that the legal free agent tampering period is underway around the NFL, speculation as to where San Diego Chargers safety Eric Weddle will wind up playing in 2016 is beginning to pick up even more. During his weekly MMQB post, Peter King recapped a recent talk he had with Weddle.
“I’ve got three to five years left in me,” Weddle said Saturday, according to King. “I want to go somewhere I have a chance to win a Super Bowl. Until last year I’ve never been injured. I’ve never had surgery. I don’t drink, I don’t go out. My shoulders, back, legs, hip, they’re all fine. I think I bring a lot to a team.”
Weddle, who turned 31 in January, apparently has given a lot of thought to the possibility of him signing with the New England Patriots.
“It would be funny if I ended up there,” Weddle told King of him possibly playing in New England next season. “We’ve played them so many times. The thing I like about them is they don’t have an ego. It’s insane to think about how good they’ve been. I’ve been to just one AFC championship game. They’ve been there every year. You respect it, you envy it, you admire it.”
If you are hoping Weddle signs with the Pittsburgh Steelers, King reports that the veteran safety spoke “longingly” of not only them, but the Oakland Raiders and Carolina Panthers as well as he also sees those teams as possible destinations for him very soon.
Now that the Kansas City Chiefs have placed the franchise tag on safety Eric Berry, Weddle figures to be the most sought after safety on the free agent market starting Wednesday evening. Because of that, several anticipate his value to be right around $8 million a season. If that turns out to be the case, one could easily speculate that Weddle would be too expensive for the Steelers.
Being as the Raiders have a ton of cap space to work with this offseason, one would think that they will make a serious push for Weddle.
The Steelers were able to shore-up their safety position some on Monday by re-signing Robert Golden to a three-year, $5 million contract. Golden, however, is not currently a lock to start alongside Mike Mitchell next season.
