Safety Eric Reid met with the Bengals on Monday to discuss football as well as some non-football matters. Bengals owner Mike Brown personally met with Reid and asked him whether he’ll kneel during the 2018 season, Mike Florio of PFT hears. 
Reid, who previously indicated that he will not kneel this year, was unwilling to commit on the spot. He ultimately left without an offer, even though he sensed that defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and other coaches were interested in signing him and didn’t care much about his anthem protests.
However, late in the visit, head coach Marvin Lewis asked Reid if he wants to clarify anything that Reid told ownership regarding the anthem. Reid said that he had nothing to add and the visit ended soon after.
Things have stalled in free agency for Reid and it’s likely that his participation in protests during the national anthem are a factor. Reid is reportedly willing to return to the Niners on a one-year deal and that may wind up being his best option. There have been some discussions on that front, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears, though SF pitched a deal for a lower guaranteed rate than the one he had in 2017. Reid, meanwhile, wants to match his $5.676MM salary from last year, according to Florio.
Colin’s lawyers would like to enter this story as exhibit A.
Exhibit A for what? Teams/Leagues/Businesses have every right to not hire someone due to their actions (legal or not) inside and outside of the workplace.
I’m just relieved that Peyton Manning was able to sell all 74 of his poppa johns pizza parlors before they pulled their sponsorship from NFL because of the kneeling/ protest BS. People were starting to boycott his pizza places
Everyone is an at will employee. It’s a disgrace. Anyone that kneels have likely never put someone else’s life in their hands or have put their life in someone else’s. It’s nothing more than people seeking attention. I say if you kneel then you should be banned from the league.
Please read why Eric Reid kneels and read about his family’s military sacrifice. You’re making a blanket statement that contradicts Eric Reid’s statements. Please and thank you.
How is Mike Brown colluding?
So, the country that gave him the opportunity to achieve success based on achievement is now is obligated to continue rewarding him based on his self perceived entitlement? Eric Reid needs to be accountable and sleep in the bed he made. #karma
You know, you COULD just say “karma”, seeing as how hashtags don’t do anything here
Amen well put, he made a choice now he can live with it and whatever the consequences of that choice turns out to be.
You “patriotic” fans are so dense
sports infused with politics is more annoying than anything, since the point of sports are to get away from alllllllllll the bs
pretty sure the point of sports is to make money
It’s entertainment…. I guess entertainers don’t get to be citizens or have ideals. What an extremely ignorant way of treating people. “I’m an oil worker and you’re a football player, so I can have a voice on issues but stupid dumb football player can’t…” You all realize how dumb that is right?
Sports are mixed with politics. These are humans that didn’t appreciate having people of color innocently murdered by police officers. You still have no idea what they were even kneeling for! K, white bread….
Aren’t**** Regardless of what a person chooses for their profession. That doesn’t mean they are too stupid to vote and or have an opinion on police brutality. You proving how incapable you are of using your brain doesn’t do anything but make you look awful.
All of these fans who always have something to say negative is white
Further proving who the real racism is coming from. Look in the mirror
Yeah…. White people. I’m white. It’s easy to see only white people are so easily offended by black people not wanting to be innocently killed by cops…. How could anyone see a problem with black people not wanting to be murdered for a broken tail light? These silver spooned white privileged people keep making themselves look worse and worse.
Well put and how true
I meant well put by Kenleyfornia74.
Amen
Reid isn’t going to do himself any favors by making it known publicly what was discussed in a meeting with the owner. First the guy sells out and says he won’t kneel and now he won’t commit. It almost appears as he wants to win a public opinion war and set himself up to file suit against the NFL. I wonder if he would have had the meeting with the Bengals at all had he not stated that he would not kneel this year.
WHO said it was Reid that made it known what was said? I didn’t read that anywhere
I would answer “What ever is gonna p*ss you off more, Mr. Brown!” Bottom 3 owner…
Also, an owner who writes checks and pays more actual money than most owners. He’d rather fulfill a contract then cut dead weight, rarely cuts a veteran early. And he’s an owner who allows and encourages players to take up social causes, so long as their focus on gameday is football. Reggie Williams was a city councilman in the 80s while playing. Michael Johnson leads an effort to encourage communication between police and inner city youth. So, yeah, why would someone want to play for him?
Easy to write checks when you plead poverty to Cincinnati and don’t pay a single dollar for your stadium!
Point is, from a player’s perspective, Mike Brown is a good guy to play for. You’ll see almost every dollar on your contract, unlike pretty much every other team (that’s a detriment to the product but not to the player), and he sticks by players when they make mistakes.They’ve always had guys who’ve been very active in social causes, he only wants the guys to keep their causes off the field. Right or wrong, that’s his stance.
Fans of Tom Brady love him for being friends with a con artist/terrible person but if Reid and other blacks don’t like being shot by police for no reason. They are told to shut up by white america. Pretty gross stuff.
you’re a fool
Exactly, 661. Sheer hypocrisy.
Look everyone! Terror661 is a triggered Snowflake!
Poor little guy……….Probably out screaming at the sky, wearing his pink vag hat.
Oh yah the problem with America is always the white guys fault. Obviously terror661 has some deep seated racist attitude
Unscramble the letters, and his username is “Yeltsin.”
Since when do the Russian bots start targeting PFR?
Sounds like a guy refusing to give in to a power play. Not a great move to get yourself employed, but I understand the urge to tell someone trying to force you into something to shove it.
You would think that at some point the NFL would realize that there really isn’t a need to play the national anthem just prior to kickoff. Will fans everywhere boycott and reject the sport if they don’t get to be tortured by the singing of people like Roseanne Barr?
The majority want the Anthem and they want everyone to stand and respect our great nation and what the FLAG stands for. Not playing it isn’t a option
You can love the anthem, flag, country and all that stuff and survive without having it played before the start of a sporting event. The NFL has a long range plan to have regular games in places like England, Mexico and possibly Japan. Are those fans going to feel cheated if they don’t hear America’s national anthem before the kickoff?
Before all of the jingoistic fake patriotism crap after 9/11 the players remained in the locker rooms until after the anthem. What’s wrong with that? Oh yeah, ‘Murica, bitches
“Before all of the jingoistic fake patriotism crap after 9/11 the players remained in the locker rooms until after the anthem.”
I don’t think that’s true, at least not consistently over the years. I remember the Vikings, specifically, standing at attention with the helmets all crooked in the same arm during the anthem going back to at least the 70’s.
I stand corrected, read a few things that were half right or misleading. It was primetime games that players weren’t on the sidelines for the anthem until the forced/contrived military junk started in 2009. I had season tickets for a few years in mid 00s and really don’t remember them being there or not.
You have NO idea what majority wants. The majority didn’t care back when they didn’t play it, did they? The NFL made money of military for years.
I think the steady drop in ratings prove that there are portions of fans that will not watch the NFL. Are there enough people in that portion effecting the sport? The NFL and the sponsors that pay to advertise think so as it is causing meetings and sparking discussions. It even caused one notable CEO having to step down.
I personally dont have a problem with them protesting, but it should not be done on the company dime. There are certain requirements and rules that are part of signing an nfl contract and if you do not follow the regulations agreed to then you have to face the consequences. Like if you show up on the field wearing Reebok when the official apparel is Nike, you get a major fine if not a gameday suspension. Breaking the rules means consequences. Maybe the rule breaking inspires change and maybe it does not but you have to deal with the repercussions with those actions.
Reid is not prohibited from having a point of view or using his position of influence to effect change. Likewise, corporations are permitted to restrict speech of their employees, particularly if a company’s customers are offended by that speech.
This is a collective bargaining issue, and one which is not addressed under the current CBA.
And the union should have stood up for its members and made it clear that no player should be penalized for not standing during the anthem. I’d love to see them join Kaepernick’s suit against the league, too.
I agree with the commenters about how Reid made his bed and now he has to lie in it.
The part that no one is commenting on is this is bengals we are talking about. The team that has burfict. The team that has Pac-Man jones. You have those guys on your team and you’re worried about perception and kneeling? How about being worried about burfict? There’s no telling what that guy is capable of.
This guy is a joke. You make the comment that you will no longer kneel. You finally get a free agent interview and you want to play games. He’s all about attention for himself period. Why even go to the interview? You know they gonna want a confirmation on your kneeling. I hope he never gets signed..