Carolina Panthers: Eric Reid signing should pay off big

Try as people might, they’re likely not going to get much out of the Carolina Panthers regarding Eric Reid and his national anthem protests.

It also seems the team isn’t trying to discourage him from his ongoing defamation lawsuit against the NFL. Everything about this move has been strongly hinted at being strictly about football. That shouldn’t be a surprise. The Panthers situation at safety took a huge hit when they lost starter Da’Norris Searcy to injured reserve. They were already shaky even with him on the field.

Reid was far and away the best player available in free agency and at the position they needed most. It remains an incredible shock that teams waited so long to sign him given his background of productivity. This is a former Pro Bowler, after all. His versatility speaks for itself, switching between coverage safety, box safety, and even nickel linebacker at times for the San Francisco 49ers.

There isn’t much explanation for why it took this long other than his anthem protests. He wasn’t injured during the offseason. No reports surfaced about him demanding too much money. Far inferior safeties were signed instead of him during that time. The one explanation that came out was teams weren’t sure he wanted to play football anymore. How much of that is true is up for debate.

An already good Panthers defense gets another playmaker

It’s not like the Panthers defense was hurting for talent to begin with. They have plenty of it across the board from defensive linemen like Kawann Short to linebackers like Luke Kuechly and an emerging corner in James Bradberry. This is a good, disciplined unit. So giving it an extra help is a failure on the rest of the NFL in fire prevention. There’s no telling what Ron Rivera and his staff will be able to do with someone like Reid on the back end.

Despite playing several different positions last year, Reid had two interceptions and over 60 tackles in 13 games. That was for a defense that wasn’t all that good. What might happen when he has more talent around him? That’s something Carolina has a chance to find out. One thing is for sure. The odds are this PR gamble is likely to pay off. Reid won’t be much of a distraction beyond the first week and what he can give them on the field will be a huge benefit.

Don’t be surprised if by the end of the season other teams regret not having the courage to pull the trigger on him months ago.