Remember how everyone had been wondering what the status was of former All-Pro safety Eric Berry? His name came up over and over again over the past year and yet there was never word of him working out for a team or anything.
Berry fought back from a Lymphoma diagnosis that ended his 2014 season to be named All-Pro two straight seasons in 2015 and 2016.
Things haven’t gone well for him since then. He played just three games since 2016, having been placed on injured reserve after week one of the 2017 season and week two of the 2018 season. The first injury was an ACL tear, then his return was cut short by an Achilles injury. He was dealing with a heel injury when the team ultimately released him on March 13 of last year after adding Tyrann Mathieu.
The heel injury wasn’t deemed serious and didn’t require surgery, so how is it we didn’t see Berry back in the league last year? NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports it was intentional.
From @gmfb: Former #Chiefs S Eric Berry‘s absence from the #NFL this past season was intentional. He plans to return in 2020. pic.twitter.com/Xd32c8p7fJ
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 25, 2020
Several times over the past year safety was a major need for the Raiders. Free agency was the first time and with Berry’s release, he immediately became a top name at the position.
With their third pick in the first round, the Raider addressed the safety position, grabbing Johnathan Abram at 27 overall. Then Abram was lost after week one with a shoulder injury. So, once again Berry’s name came up. The Raiders worked out some safeties, but ultimately Erik Harris would step back into his starting role to replace Abram across from Karl Joseph.
Come week 11, Joseph was lost for the season and so safety was once again in question and therefore everyone was like ‘What’s Eric Berry up to?’ But the team would sign DJ Swearinger and insert him as the starter.
At 31, Berry intends on playing in 2020. At this moment the Raiders could be ok at safety even if Karl Joseph leaves in free agency. Erik Harris and Johnathan Abram figure to be the starters, even though the two play the same position.
But as we know, Gruden loves his savvy veterans and his grinders and Berry came back from CANCER. That’s a grinder if I’ve ever seen one.
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