Brandon Carr’s best ability? Availability

The Baltimore Ravens signed veteran cornerback Brandon Carr to a four-year deal, and the former Chief and Cowboy brings a very specific trait that the secondary has lacked it for several years: Durability

Since signing with Dallas in 2012, Carr has received some criticism for maybe not living up to the fairly large contract that he was given coming out of Kansas City. However, he can't be criticized for a lack of availability throughout the duration of it. He never missed a game in a Cowboys uniform.

While this may be a bit of an overrated statistic at times, it couldn't be more valuable to a Ravens team that employs Jimmy Smith as a number one corner. Smith is almost the opposite of Carr, in that he is a bit of a streaky player in both a positive and negative sense. Smith has had issues staying on the field going all the way back to his 2011 rookie season.

Stepping into the number two spot will allow Carr to play the perfect sidekick/foil role to Smith while also allowing the more diminutive Tavon Young to shift into the slot, where he can likely be the most effective. He has only had one interception since 2013, so fans shouldn’t expect him to a flashy signing; in fact, a buzzword from his introductory press conference was “solid,” in regards to his playing style.

While the fan base isn't likely to get incredibly juiced up over that type of descriptor, a solid player who is occupying the number two role at his position and has two good safeties behind him was really all the Ravens needed in this situation. The fact that he can be relied upon to stay healthy is certainly an added bonus that the front office and coaching staff has to be happy about.