Charles Woodson rumors have the veteran safety landing somewhere along the east coast in the 2013 season. Currently, the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens and their rival New England Patriots are the two teams heavily rumored of having interests in signing the 15-year veteran.
Woodson is far from young, but he remains effective when healthy. He was out in 2012 with a collarbone injury, but in seven games for the Green Bay Packers this season he recorded 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
Both squads could use some help on the defensive end in the upcoming season.
For the Ravens, they will be without Ray Lewis as he's set to retire. Meanwhile, questions surrounding Ed Reed's return are still up in the air. Defense has always been their forte and Woodson can rub off some of his skills and work ethics on this young Ravens' defense.
As for the Patriots, once heavily regarded as one of the best defensive teams in the league, with the retirement of guys like Ty Law and Teddy Bruschi, the Patriots defense quickly took a nose dive, coincidentally right around the same time, Tom Brady emerged as one of the Top 5 quarterbacks in the league.
The Patriots have been to the Super Bowl twice in the past five years, but they have lost to the New York Giants on both occasions and they were scortched late in the games by Eli Manning on a deep passes.
Who knows? If the Patriots would have made a couple of defensive stops in those games, then Brady could have been a five-time champion.
Woodson is a guy who plays every game when he's available. He has 55 career interceptions with 11 touchdown receptions. Age isn't an issue for Woodson. He posted two of his best seasons at age 33 and 35. The eight-time Pro Bowler recorded a career high nine interceptions in 2009 and then two years later followed up with seven interceptions.
These days might be behind the defender, but for a long time, Woodson was the most dominant cornerback in the game. He started his career with the Oakland Raiders (when they were actually good) playing his first eight seasons out west. He then played seven seasons for the Packers.
It will be interesting to see which of the two teams lures Woodson to their team. It would be another story behind these two squads who are quickly developing one of the best rivalries in the NFL.