Jason La Canfora of NFL.com has reported that the Baltimore Ravens have cut ties with the veteran safety, waiving the former Cowboy and Seahawk. With the Jaguars in desperate need to solidify their secondary is it possible that help could actually be on the way? Ken Hamlin very well could be a stop-gap veteran to come in and strengthen the Jaguars defensive backfield in 2010.
It's clear that 29 year old Ken Hamlin isn't the same player that went to the Pro Bowl in 2007, but he isn't entirely incompetent either. He was released by the Cowboys in April due to the fact that he was going to be owed $5.5 million by the Cowboys after he was overpaid as a free agent in 2007. The Ravens signed Hamlin to a one year contract as an insurance policy for Ed Reed who was and still is recovering from a hip injury.While in Baltimore he made little impact over two games and saw most of his time on special teams. With that said, he's still probably better than most, if not all, the Jaguars safeties. If him being released by the Ravens makes you think he must not be very good, keep in mind that the Ravens have a talented young crop of safeties including Haruki Nakamura and Tom Zbikowski to go with the perennial Pro Bowler, Ed Reed. Meanwhile Gerald Alexander who looked like one of the best, if not the best, of the Jaguars safeties remains unsigned.
The addition of Hamlin makes logical sense to me, but it's not about what I think. It's about what Gene thinks, but hey, speculating is fun.