San Diego Chargers Score Big on Deal for Safety Eric Weddle

Within minutes of the announcement that a deal had been struck, the Chargers' front office was roundly lambasted by the media who came out, en masse, to accuse San Diego of overpaying for free safety Eric Weddle. But all the criticism stemming from the media amounts to nothing more than sensationalism and hyperbole manufactured for the purpose of capturing the attention of the fans.

One popular analyst even went so far as wildly proclaiming that Weddle's new contract made him the highest paid safety in the league. But the reality is that Weddle isn't even the highest paid safety in his own division. Look it up. That honor belongs to Eric Berry, who signed a $60 million contract with the Chiefs back in 2010.

Others suggested that Weddle had no business being paid more than playmakers like Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu. Analysts, pundits and columnists seemed collectively beside themselves with disbelief that the 26-year-old, who had yet to receive a single Pro Bowl bid, could even be mentioned in the same breath as Polamalu.

It's difficult for me to wrap my mind around the fact that these so called “analysts” and “experts” can't differentiate between strong and free safety and yet, based on what's been said thus far, that would seem to be the case.

True, statistically, Eric Weddle's production does not meet up to the standard set by Polamalu. But this fact that is totally irrelevant since they play entirely different positions, requiring completely different skill sets.

Sure, the positions can be interchangeable in certain zone schemes, and sure, both positions play important roles in the defensive secondary. However, as any player or coach will tell you, the similarities between “free” and “strong” safety begin and end right there.

Those who understand the differences between the two positions know that Polamalu could not possibly put up the same kind of numbers that he has starting from the free safety position. As great as Polamalu is, it's questionable, at best, whether he could even play free safety for any extended length of time.

Does he have the range or the speed required to play free safety? Can he read the offense and call the plays to the secondary on the fly? Maybe, maybe not. But unless the Steelers plan on moving Polamalu, at some point (not going to happen), we'll never know.

The point is that formulating an opinion based on comparisons made between players at different positions is, to put it mildly, an exercise in futility. It's like comparing stats between a tight-end and a wide receiver, a fullback and a halfback, or a defensive tackle and a defensive end. It's cats and dogs, apples and oranges. It's pure folly.

You may as well compare Mike Alstott to Barry Sanders, or Warren Sap to Lawrence Taylor or Tony Gonzalez to Jerry Rice.

The fact is that Weddle's performance during the 2010 season places him, firmly, among the top three free safeties in the league, and he's only 26 years old. Perhaps this is why Weddle was such a hot commodity during free agency, go figure. Besides, Polamalu is in the final year of a five year deal worth $33 million, and, in all likelihood, will be earning far more than Weddle is now by this time next year.

Only free safety Michael Griffin had a clear edge on Weddle, based on the stats. It's worth mentioning that Griffin is also in the final year of a multi-year deal and, like Polamalu, stands to earn considerably more than Weddle heading into next season.

Once the market's influence is taken into consideration, the terms of the deal between Weddle and the Chargers become fairly academic. Invariably it is “the market” or, in other words, the level of interest garnered by a particular player, combined with the inflationary nature of player salaries that ultimately defined the parameters for negotiation between Weddle and the Chargers.

And while these simple truths may have long since been assumed knowledge for San Diego's highly-regarded capologist and chief negotiator, Ed McGuire, apparently the same cannot be said of his critics.