Earl Thomas, Raven nevermore, draws little interest from others

Earl Thomas is a 3-time All-Pro safety who at 31 should have at least a year or two left in his NFL career.  But a combination of physical and mental issues have caused the league to look away from him after his release last week by the Baltimore Ravens.  The move was triggered by Thomas throwing a punch at his teammate and fellow safety Chuck Clark during a training-camp scrimmage.  But such intrasquad flareups are not rare in the NFL.  The Ravens seemed to be looking for any reason to jettison Thomas.  His position does not require a cornerback’s speed; anticipation and diagnostics can compensate for declining burst.  But as Chris Simms, analyst for Pro Football Talk, observed: “At this point, Earl Thomas is a middle of the pack safety.  He isn’t better than what the Falcons have and arguably is not an upgrade for the Cowboys either.  Think he might have to wait for a suitor.”  The distraction factor is huge with Thomas.  Last year he brazenly confronted Baltimore’s 340-pound nose tackle Brandon Williams after a game with Cleveland.  And who can forget Thomas waving goodbye to Seattle as he was carted off the field with a broken leg?  Middle finger aimed at coach Pete Carroll.  There was also a disturbing domestic situation in April.  Thomas’ wife was arrested after allegedly pointing a loaded gun at his head.  The concern is that there’s too much going on in his life for him to be fully focused on football.  The ex-Texas Longhorn wants to play for Dallas, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was at his inscrutable best in an appearance on 1053 The Fan radio: “It would be a misleading thing to say we haven’t discussed him; it would be a misleading thing to say that we have.”