Free agent safety Eric Reid took to Twitter on Thursday evening to address some of the discourse around him and his status on the open market. It was reported that an NFL player may be getting passed over by NFL teams due to his participation in the peaceful protests against systemic injustice and oppression along with Colin Kaepernick, and we all know that player is Reid.
As a result, this has led to some suggesting that Reid could be picked up on the cheap, as his market is soft due to his involvement in the protests. First, Reid addressed that, calling the insinuation that he would be a “great signing for your team for cheap, not because of my skill set but because I’ve protested systemic oppression” ludicrous.
I believe Reid is worthy of a nice contract for a potential Pro Bowl-caliber safety with a bit of an injury history. Reid is suggesting that having the mindset that he should be picked up for less makes you “part of the problem too,” and I agree.
Reid then addressed another Twitter user, who said that Reid’s move to linebacker was because he wasn’t skilled enough at safety, and that he “clearly” isn’t worth the money to keep. Yeah, that’s not what happened. At all.
Your assumption is false. After Navorro went to the Raiders, there was a LB shortage and I was asked to pick up the slack. No training camp to practice, but in the middle of my contract year because the team needed it. Get your facts straight brother https://t.co/bfC3CR55bx
— Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) March 16, 2018
After that, Reid responded to a Twitter user who implicated general managers in the situation, but Reid said that they aren’t the problem, it’s ownership. “People who know football know who can play,” Reid said. “People who know me, know my character.”
Finally, Reid retweeted a few different users, one of which who points out that Reid actually played well at linebacker (he did), one who called Reid an amazing role model for youth (he is) and one who called him a versatile player who can play at multiple positions (he is).
Reid’s last non-retweet, at the time of writing, talked about controlling the narrative. “There are a lot of false narratives out there,” he said. “I hope y’all are paying attention.” Before all of that, he also retweeted some things about Colin Kaepernick, who has more false narratives surrounding him than anybody else.
It’s stupid that Reid isn’t signed yet. It’s stupid that Kaepernick isn’t signed still. I personally still think Reid would be one of the 11 best players on defense if the San Francisco 49ers were to sign him, but if they don’t, then I believe another team will be getting an All-Pro caliber player. If someone has the courage to pick up the phone.