In the NFL, someone at the ripe old age of 34 years old shouldn’t be coming off arguably the best season of their career. They should be headed to the retirement home.
Somehow or another, former Baltimore Ravens safety Tony Jefferson isn’t just still going; he’s scored another contract after putting up a career-high 4 interceptions in 2025.
Sources: The Chargers are re-signing S Tony Jefferson to a 1-year, $2M deal,” NFL insider Jordan Schultz wrote on his official X account on Wednesday. “A locker room favorite, Jefferson posted career-highs in INTs (4) and passes defensed (7) in 13 games last season — and now he’s back with the Bolts. After Darius Slay retired this week, Tony Jefferson is now the only DB from the 2013 draft still on an active NFL roster. Jefferson was undrafted.”
Jefferson, 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, has 2 separate stints with the Ravens, from 2017 to 2019 and again in 2021. He was the full-time starter for the Ravens at safety in 2017 and 2018, including starting all 16 regular-season games in 2017.
Disastrous 40-Yard Dash Time Killed Draft Hopes
Jefferson starred at Oklahoma in the early 2010s, and while rumors of his lack of work ethic dogged him headed into the 2013 NFL draft, that’s not what kept Jefferson from being selected.
The reason Jefferson wasn’t picked was that he registered a disastrous 40-yard dash time of 4.75 seconds at the NFL scouting combine — the same year Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle and 2013 1st round pick Lane Johnson ran the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds.
“When Oklahoma Sooners junior Tony Jefferson came out for the 2013 NFL Draft, no one expected him to go in the first round, but a lot of people were predicting he could go on day two in either the second or third round,” Stormin’ in Norman’s Shawn Leaos wrote in May 2013. “Yahoo even ran a profile on him in their pre-draft coverage. He was seen as a lesser version of Roy Williams, a first round pick who made it to multiple Pro Bowls. No one expected the draft to end and no one take Tony Jefferson.”
From Undrafted to Decade-Plus NFL Career
All of this begs the question — how did a lazy, slow, and undrafted defensive back manage to spend over a decade playing in the NFL?
For Jefferson, it just amounts to sheer determination.
In 2013, he signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent and played in all but 1 regular-season game over the next 4 seasons, finally becoming a full-time starter at safety in 2016.
Jefferson parlayed that 1 season and career highs of 96 tackles, 13 TFL and 5 pass deflections into the payday of a lifetime, signing a 4-year, $34 million free-agent contract with the Ravens in March 2017.
Jefferson tore his ACL early in the 2019 season and was released by the Ravens in February 2020. He missed the entire 2020 season, then returned to play in 2021 for the San Francisco 49ers and Ravens. He spent 1 year playing for the New York Giants in 2022, then actually retired from the NFL and spent 2023 as a scout for the Ravens.
One year later, Jefferson announced he was coming out of retirement to play for the Chargers and was on and off the roster for the entire 2024 season.
He was released by the Chargers in August 2025 but was brought back and finished the season playing in 13 games with 8 starts and his career-high 4 interceptions, including a game-winning interception against the Philadelphia Eagles in overtime in Week 14.
Former Ravens’ 16-Game Starter Signs New Contract With AFC Rival