Arizona Cardinals: Tony Jefferson likely signing with Ravens
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals are about to lose safety Tony Jefferson to the AFC
Safety Tony Jefferson appears to be moving on as expected. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Jefferson will be signing with the AFC North’s Baltimore Ravens.
It comes as little shock that Jefferson is leaving Arizona. It is a bit of a shock that Jefferson will be leaving for the east coast.
Jefferson had made public his first choice was to stay in Arizona since it was close to his home in San Diego. However when money talks, the wallet will listen no matter where the destination is.
The Cardinals had an offer on the table however after safety Eric Berry signed his huge deal last week, the writing was on the wall for Jefferson to get his pay day.
Ravens expected to sign Cardinals S Tony Jefferson barring any last-minute negotiating snags, per @diannaESPN and me.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2017
Jefferson spent his first four seasons with the Cardinals, starting 14 of the 15 games he played in for the team in 2016. He had 96 tackles, two sacks, and five passes defensed last season.
Although Jefferson failed to grab an interception he was definitely a distraction for opposing receivers. Many considered him to be a snub for the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl game and there was a lot of surprise he wasn’t at least named an alternate.
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We knew the day was coming. Although nothing can be made official until Thursday afternoon, this pretty much spells out what is about to take place.
Cardinals fans will miss him, we will miss him. It is time to move on and it is likely the Cardinals were already prepared to move on without him.
The big question now is will the Cardinals try to lure another, less expensive safety, to replace Jefferson or will his spot go to someone in the draft. The answer may be both.
For now, we wish Jefferson the best. We thank him for bringing his talents to Arizona and hope he earns every cent in Baltimore.