Washington Football Team: Why missing out on Eric Reid isn’t a big deal

Déjà vu for Reid

In 2019, if you take a quick glance at Reid’s year, it looks like he was one of the best safeties in the league, but digging deeper proves his play continue to fall.

Let’s start with the good stuff first. Reid finished the year with 103 solo tackles and 4 sacks, both second-highest in the NFL among safeties. He also nearly cut his missed tackle percentage in half, finishing at 6.5 percent.

However, Reid was harassed by quarterbacks throughout the year. He was targeted 70 times, fourth-most among safeties, and gave up 54 completions, the most among safeties.

Quarterbacks completed 77.1 percent of their targets against Reid and had a 149.1 passer rating when passing in his direction. That ranked worst in the NFL amongst all defenders.

Reid also gave up 750 receiving yards, the most among safeties, and 8 receiving touchdowns, the most amongst safeties and second-most in the NFL amongst all defenders. He finished the year with a 46.6 PFF rating, ranked as the third-worst safety in 2019, and was cut by the Panthers after the season.

Once again, Reid again found himself as a free agent in the middle of the season. After Landon Collins suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, guess who reached out again? No other than Ron Rivera, except this time, he’s with the Washington Football Team and not the Carolina Panthers.

Rivera was clearly impressed by Reid’s play when he was with the Panthers and in September, he told reporters what he would tell coaches and general managers if they inquired about the safety.

"“I would tell them he’s a heck of a teammate. He came in and the young man did exactly what was asked of him. He was not an issue. I will say this, too. He’s a young man who really, truly helped me understand the entire movement that’s going on right now. He’s a heck of a young man. I’ll tell you that much.”"

At that time, Rivera mentioned that the Washington Football Team was set at safety, but in a bit of foreshadowing,  mentioned if they didn’t have Landon Collins, they would give Reid a call.

"“We’re in a fortunate position where we have Landon Collins. A guy like Eric Reid wouldn’t fit us here. But 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.”"

After Collins’ injury, Rivera reportedly did call, and offered Reid an opportunity to join the Washington Football Team’s practice squad, an offer Reid flat out declined.