According to ESPN on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Rams have signed safety Eric Weddle of Fontana, California. Weddle initially retired from the Rams on February 6 at the age of 35, however a season-ending injury by safety Jordan Fuller in the Rams’ 27-24 overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday was a major reason why the Rams were able to bring Fuller back on to the football field and unretire him.
In Weddle’s prime, he was one of the best safeties in the National Football League. He led the NFL with seven interceptions in the 2011 regular season while with the San Diego Chargers.
In 13 years with the Chargers, Baltimore Ravens and Rams from 2007 to 2019, Weddle played in 186 games, and had 29 interceptions for 467 yards, four pick sixes, 98 pass deflections. eight forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries for 113 yards, one touchdown from a fumble recovery, 9.5 sacks, 1179 combined tackles, 9034 solo tackles, 276 assisted tackles, 38 tackles for a loss, and 23 quarterback hits. He was selected to the Pro Bowl on six occasions–three times with the Chargers (2011, 2013 and 2014), and three more times with the Ravens (2016, 2017, and 2018).
At the time of Waddle’s retirement, he was still playing football at a high level. In 2019, he had 108 combined tackles for the Rams. But the bottom line is Waddle has been out of football for two full years, and it may be tough for him to get back to the level that is required in order to play high performance football– in the postseason, nonetheless.
The loss of Fuller meanwhile may be the bigger story here. In 16 games this season with the Rams (only Fuller’s second NFL season overall), he had one interception for 34 yards, five pass deflections, 113 combined tackles (63 solo tackles and 50 assisted tackles) and one tackle for a loss.
The Rams open the playoffs on Monday against Arizona. The Cardinals and Rams split the season series. Los Angeles lost 37-2o on October 3, before winning 30-23 on December 13.
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