In hindsight, the Philadelphia Eagles were wise not to sign Eric Reid
While many fans initially pined after Eric Reid, if Sunday is of any indication, the Philadelphia Eagles made the right call passing on his services.
The Philadelphia Eagles Week 7 contest against the Carolina Panthers was not a game without its fair share of interesting storylines, and heartbreaking missteps (read more here).
However, for to me at least, the most interesting occurrence of all actually happened before the game even began, when recently signed Panthers safety Eric Reid almost started a Lakers–Rockets-esque fist fight with Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins.
Now granted, this shouldn’t be too surprising for fans in the know, as the duo have had issues in the past stemming from their disagreement over the Jenkins-helmed NFL’s Players Coalition, but who knew that tensions were still so high?
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Based on their pregame interactions, I think that may actually be a bit of an understatement.
After having to be physically restrained by the officials in an attempt to squelch the escalating incident, Reid continued his tirade as he was escorted to his own sideline, turning his sights of Jenkins former teammate, and friend Torrey Smith.
But wait, there’s more.
After the game, Reid was asked about his pregame interaction with Jenkins and went on to describe the Eagles’ caption as a “sell-out” and a “neo-colonialist”.
At this point, I think it’s pretty easy to see now why the Eagles opted not to sign Reid when Rodney McLeod went down with his season-ending injury in Week 3.
While Reid actually played pretty well in his first professional game in over nine months, recording eight total tackles and six solo tackles, it’s clear as day that his deeply held personal animosity against Jenkins would have been a non-starter in free agent negotiations, especially when you consider that the duo would have had to work in tandem for almost the entire game, play-after-play.
Is Reid a better safety than current starter Avonte Maddox? Sure, and his ability to serve as a hard-hitting safety-linebacker-hybrid could have been a major upgrade for Jim Schwartz‘s defense, but this isn’t a game of Madden, and those off-the-field issues clearly aren’t going to be fixed with a simple conversation.
No, for how much Reid could have helped out the Eagles on the defensive side of the ball, his inability to get along with Jenkins, a player who’s also attempting to elicit social change, albeit from a decidedly different angle, is the textbook definition of a non-starter.
Next. Missed chances: A departure from the Philadelphia Eagles’ positivity train. dark
Most fans judge a GM for the moves they make, but much like the Philadelphia Eagles decision to pass on trading for Carlos Hyde and his three-year contract, Howie Roseman clearly made the right decision to pass on signing Eric Reid to replace Rodney McLeod, as his off the field issues simply overshadow his on-field production.