CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Eric Reid is getting another shot in the NFL.
The Carolina Panthers on Thursday signed the free-agent safety to a one-year contract. Terms of the deal were not announced.
Reid filed an official grievance letter with the NFL in May, alleging that team owners and the league colluded to prevent his employment due to his protest activities. Reid, along with quarterback Colin Kaepernick, participated in protests during the playing of the national anthem before NFL games to highlight social awareness and racial injustice.
Panthers GM Marty Hurney said he wasn’t concerned about Reid’s past protests, telling The Associated Press it was a “football decision” – and one that was approved by new owner David Tepper.
“Every decision we make we communicate with” Tepper, Hurney said.
Tepper bought the team from Jerry Richardson this past summer.
“Everybody we sign we ask if he has the skill set and if he helps us win football games – and we feel the answer is yes,” Hurney said of Reid.
Kaepernick offered congratulations on Twitter to his former teammate, saying Reid is a “social justice warrior (who) continues to support his family and communities in need.” He said Reid was the first person who knelt alongside him for the national anthem, which was done to highlight racial and social injustice.
Kaepernick added that Reid is an “all pro safety who should have been signed the 1st day of free agency.”
It’s unclear if Reid plans to continue his protests when he begins playing for the Panthers, though he said in March he doesn’t plan to protest during the national anthem this season.
The Panthers have a bye this week and next play at home on Oct. 7 against the New York Giants.
Reid is expected to start right away after the Panthers placed Da’Norris Searcy on injured reserve last week.
Browns running back Carlos Hyde, who played with Reid and Kaepernick in San Francisco, was stunned to hear his former teammate had been picked up by the Panthers.
“For real?” Hyde said following Cleveland’s practice. “I’m so happy for him. It’s been too long. I kind of felt like they was doing him the same way they were doing Kap, so it’s good to see E-Reid got signed and Kap should definitely be up next. It would be a real good thing then.”
Said Eagles defensive end Michael Bennett, “It’s about time.”
PATRIOTS: Cornerback Eric Rowe was absent from practice after being limited with a groin injury. Rowe, who suffered the injury at Jacksonville, was limited all last week and didn’t travel to Detroit.
EAGLES: The Eagles won’t have safety Rodney McLeod for Sunday’s game against Tennessee and a report says he’s going to miss the rest of the season following knee surgery. Coach Doug Pederson is expected to update McLeod’s status on Friday.
Corey Graham has played 55 percent of the defensive snaps, so the 33-year-old is already a key part of the defense. He has started 66 games in his 12-year career.
JETS: Offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates says the team has experienced malfunctions with its sideline headsets in all three games this season.
Bates says that while he’s not making excuses for on-field miscommunication in some instances, he acknowledges that the Jets have had to work around those issues at Detroit, at home against Miami and at Cleveland.
Bates adds that he and the coaches understand that technical issues can happen, “especially in New England.”
The Patriots were accused by some teams – and, ultimately, cleared – a few years ago of tampering with headsets at Gillette Stadium.
The Jets have come up with a signals system to use when the headsets go out and Bates can’t communicate effectively with quarterback Sam Darnold. During the team’s loss at Cleveland last Thursday night, New York was forced to take a timeout to go over the signals and the play calls.
BROWNS: Tyrod Taylor, who was replaced as Cleveland’s starter by rookie Baker Mayfield, was cleared from concussion protocol and returned to practice, but was limited by a back injury that could prevent him from being the No. 2 quarterback on Sunday in Oakland.
QB HITS: The NFL is sticking with its officiating emphasis on quarterback hits, including those in which the tackler uses all or most of his body weight when falling on the quarterback.
NFL football operations chief Troy Vincent said that the powerful competition committee has clarified to game officials the techniques used in such hits, which have been a source of debate through the first three weeks of the schedule. Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews has been called for three of them, two of which appeared to be normal tackles.
A lack of consistency on such calls also has been a source of contention throughout the league. In its regularly scheduled conference call, the committee reviewed video of such plays from 2017 and this year.
“In reiterating its position on quarterback protection,” Vincent says, “the committee determined there would be no changes to the point of emphasis approved this spring, or to the rule of which the body weight provision has been in place since 1995.”
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