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Back on March 18, the story of how free-agent safety Earl Thomas was nearly a Kansas City Chief led our daily Arrowheadlines. Thomas had told BaltimoreRavens.com he thought he was going to Kansas City on a two-year or one-year deal and was “going to bet on himself and hit the market again.”
The Chiefs initially pursued the 29-year-old, five-time All-Pro at last year’s trade deadline before he broke his leg, and we know now that Thomas instead agreed upon a four-year, $55 million contract ($32 million guaranteed) with the Ravens at the last second during free agency. You can’t blame him for that.
But the agony is in the details.
New #Ravens safety @Earl_Thomas told us how close he was to joining the #Chiefs and if the #Cowboys ever made him a free agent offer: pic.twitter.com/7XZxt6w1PS
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) April 11, 2019
Thomas joined The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday, and Eisen asked him about the free agency process.
“I really thought I was going to go to Kansas City,” Thomas said. “I had committed there on a one-year deal worth like $12 million, and the next morning I woke up, my agents called me and told me I had a better offer with the Ravens, so I definitely took that offer real quick.”
Thomas told Eisen he had no meetings with Baltimore before the contract offer.
“I actually got off the phone with Andy Reid the night before the news about the Ravens,” he said. “The Chiefs actually were about to send me a private jet and me and the family were packing up, getting ready to go, get on the jet, go to Kansas City and I woke up the next morning and my agents told me that Baltimore really wanted me and they offered me a mega deal, and I took that.”
Thomas said the first thing that came to his mind was having to break the commitment he had made to the Chiefs.
“I didn’t want to disrespect that organization because they believed in me for that one year, and they committed to me,” he said. “But my agents told me that they would take care of it, and I just let them guys work it out. I got word back that Kansas City understood my situation and they were fine with it.”
That close to Tyrann Mathieu and Earl Thomas together in Kansas City.