Weddle softens 'Ravens or retire' stance

A few weeks after saying he would play for the Baltimore Ravens in 2019 or retire, safety Eric Weddle has softened that stance. "Obviously, I want to be back [in Baltimore]. I want to finish out," he told the team's website Wednesday from the Pro Bowl in Orlando. "If not, I've had an unbelievable experience here and loved every second. So, if it does happen that we both move on, then we do, and we'll see if I'll play somewhere else or hang 'em up."

After the Ravens were knocked out of the playoffs, Weddle told reporters on Jan. 7 he wouldn't play for another team, saying, "It's either play my last year here and that will be it and enjoy it, or this has been it. It's pretty simple. I'm a simple kind of guy." Weddle, who turned 34 earlier this month, is slated to make $6.5 million in 2019 in the final season of a four-year, $26 million deal. His cap figure is $8.25 million, and the Ravens could trim that to a $1.75 million dead-money hit if they release him.

Weddle has made the Pro Bowl in all three seasons with the Ravens but failed to make an interception this season after picking off six in 2017 and four in 2016. He also broke up just three passes after a combined 21 from 2016-17. The 12-year veteran spent the first nine years of his career with the then-San Diego Chargers, before having a fallout with team brass. He has 29 career interceptions and has scored five defensive touchdowns -- four on interceptions and one on a fumble.

--Field Level Media