Eric Reid turned down a spot on Washington Practice Squad

Rob Maaddi of AP reports that Eric Reid says that Washington called him.

They offered him a spot on the Practice Squad.

Reid said no.

“I just don’t think playing on the practice squad is reflective or indicative of my career”

Given the changes to practice squad rules this season, COVID concerns and protocols, and the length of time that Reid has been off the football field, I’m a bit surprise that he seems to have taken the offer as some kind of insult.

There is a rather lengthy “on-boarding” process for new players, and pushing another player off the 53-man roster to make room for Reid probably isn’t appealing to the WFT coaches. It seems sensible to get Reid in on a practice squad contract, get him up to speed with COVID protocols, get him on the practice field to assess his football fitness and integrate him with his teammates, and then, in Week 10 or 11, assuming he’s shown that he deserves the roster spot, elevate him.

Ron Rivera has spoken very highly of Eric Reid since taking over as the Washington head coach, crediting Reid with helping Rivera to understand many social justice issues. Rivera has said on more than one occasion that he respects Reid and thinks he is a good player. It was the presence of a healthy Landon Collins on the roster, Rivera said at one point in the off-season, that kept the franchise from pursuing Reid as a free agent.

What changed was Landon Collins’ health. He tore his Achilles tendon in the victory against the Cowboys on Sunday. Deshazor Everett and Kamren Curl stepped up to finish that game, and Jeremy Reaves was signed to the 53-man roster this week.

I would have thought Reid would have seen this as the perfect path back to an NFL starting safety position.

Apparently not.

Here’s more from the AP report:

The 28-year-old Reid played two seasons for Washington coach Ron Rivera with Carolina and set two defensive franchise records for the Panthers last season.

first-round pick by San Francisco in 2013, Reid went to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season. He joined Colin Kaepernick in 2016 when the former star quarterback took a knee during the national anthem to protest police violence, racism and social injustice.

Kaepernick hasn’t played in the league since that season and Reid sat out the first three weeks of the 2018 season before Carolina signed him. Both players filed collusion grievances against the NFL and settled their cases in February 2019.

Last month, Rivera praised Reid, saying: “He’s a heck of a teammate. He’s a heck of a young man.”

Rivera also added: “If we didn’t (have Collins), believe me, I’d call him. I think he’s a guy that has the ability to play in this league and hopefully, if somebody needs a strong safety, he’s a guy they would call.”

Washington had a need and made the call but only for a practice squad spot.

Reid has been working out and waiting for an opportunity to join a team’s active roster. He said he was told Washington wants to give Curl a shot at starting.

“I’m just not in a place to play on the practice squad right now,” Reid said, adding that he texted Rivera to let him know his decision. “If they go a different direction, I’ll be ready.”

Reid said he hasn’t received any calls from other teams.