The Baltimore Ravens’ decision to release Earl Thomas appeared abrupt from the outside, but it may have been a long time coming for his teammates.
The Ravens announced Sunday they will release Thomas, which is set to spark a significant dispute over money. The fact that Baltimore is willing to go to that much trouble suggests things were quite bad behind the scenes.
According to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, Thomas’s practice fight was part of a “pattern of behavior” that alienated the team. It also includes skipping team meetings and generally having his own agenda.
Fighting was just latest thing Bobby. This is a pattern of behavior that includes blowing off/being late to meetings, being confrontational with teammates, not listening to teammates/coaches and being on own agenda. If it was just the fight, my guess is they’d move beyond that
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) August 23, 2020
Zrebiec is right that one practice fight wouldn’t have been enough to get Thomas cut. This was clearly threatening to boil over for a while. That’s especially true based on how quickly the Ravens acted to move on from Thomas after the incident.
The biggest tell is that Baltimore’s council of veteran players reportedly wanted Thomas out. It’s hard to stick around when your teammates have lost that much faith in you.
