Ed Reed is preparing to play in 2014 despite not being signed to a team at the moment. After a disappointing 2013 with the Houston Texans, the veteran safety has no plans on retiring anytime soon. At 35, there are not too many teams taking a very serious glance at Reed meaning his fate could come down to training camp injuries. The New York Jets are the latest team to cross themselves off Reed's wish list.
The New York Jets are entering a crucial season and need to make several roster adjustments if they plan on being contenders in 2014. They signed several offensive playmakers in free agency, but did not make many moves on defense to help with depth. Could Reed be of interest?
According to ESPN's Rich Cimini, the Jets are not interested in bringing on Reed prior to training camp. He noted it would take a big injury to change their minds about bringing the safety on. Right now, the Jets are banking on rookie Calvin Pryor and second-year pro Dee Milliner to help stabilize the secondary. Milliner is coming off a season plagued by rookie struggles and is currently nursing a hamstring injury leading up to training camp. Cimini notes that if something where to happen to either of those players or someone like Dawan Landry, then the Jets will look to Reed, but not before.
The nine-time Pro Bowler has seen his stock drop dramatically since leaving the Baltimore Ravens. He suffered a hip injury that seems to continue to hinder him. He signed a three-year, $15 million deal with the Houston Texans last offseason, but was released after not making an interception in nine games. Now Reed continues to workout and wait for interest, confident he will see the field again this year.
"I'm not going to anybody's training camp," Reed said, via ESPN.com. "I sat and watched the league from a different perspective and learned a lot. I saw they had teams that needed safeties in the latter part of the year. Right now, I'm just about taking care of me. I'm getting myself back to where there's not questions on my part. I know you guys (the media) may question, but I'm not really worried about that. It's about how I feel." "I know that I can still play. It's just a matter of the right fit. If not, you guys probably never see me again."
Reed's options are severely limited, but something could come up. When Brandon Flowers was on the market, several teams took interest, but the San Diego Chargers won out. Come training camp time, those teams could realize that adding Reed on a veteran's minimum deal might not be the worst thing. The Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions could also be very interested in the idea of adding the veteran to help with youth in the backfield.