The Kansas City Chiefs released former Volunteers safety Eric Berry. But there is no reason to worry about the Tennessee football legend just yet.
Seriously, what are the odds? Just this morning we wrote about former Vols getting huge paydays during this free agency period. But a few hours later, the news broke of the Kansas City Chiefs releasing NFL superstar Eric Berry, the greatest ambassador for Tennessee football in the pros today.
Up until this year, Berry was the highest paid safety in the NFL. Within two days, though, Landon Collins got a bigger contract and then Berry got released. It seems really unfair for a UT legend who is also an inspiration to everybody given the fact that he came back from lymphoma to achieve All-Pro recognition.
However, there is no reason to worry over Berry just yet. And I’m not just saying that because he’s made all the money he could possibly make and set himself up for life. This is about where he could end up very soon.
Eric Berry was released because of his injury issues, but time and time again he has come back from those to be an even better player. As a result, somebody will bet on him again. In fact, he’ll be in high demand very soon.
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Even if he has to take a bit of a pay cut, he’ll still be okay. And on top of that, he now has the leeway to go where he wants, and he can focus on the final piece to his illustrious career in the professional ranks: winning a Super Bowl ring.
A multi-year All-Pro safety, Berry has accomplished everything he could possibly accomplish at this level. A Super Bowl is all he has left to do, and if he takes even the slightest discount, there is always a team that may be just one piece away and will take a look at him.
On the other hand, he may not even have to take that big of a discount. Look at the Cleveland Browns, who have loaded up on offense and are desperate to upgrade their defense, which will be even harder since they got rid of Jabrill Peppers.
Cleveland has enough cap space to give Berry a big contract and backload it, and they could position themselves to win a Super Bowl in two years in the process. So to make a big payday and maybe win a Super Bowl, Cleveland is the perfect place for Eric Berry to land.
However, there are numerous other places he could end up as well, so he’ll have his options. It may be a bit depressing for him since he had a great chance at a Super Bowl playing with the Chiefs, but they are clearly cursed as a franchise anyway. Now is his chance to start fresh, and he could help put another team over the top this year.
Or he could do it in two years and still get a big contract if things go right for him. The point is that Berry still has a few years left and he has options. Provided he can stay healthy for a couple of years, there is plenty of reason to invest in his talent. Teams will figure that out, and he’ll be okay in the near future.