Longtime Redskins tight end Jordan Reed has suffered at least seven concussions since the start of his collegiate career, and his latest concussion forced him to miss the entire 2019 season. He finally cleared the concussion protocol earlier this month, which allowed Washington to release him and save a fair amount of money against the cap.
But despite the troubling head injuries and the fact that he has played in only 13 games over the past three seasons, Reed is committed to continuing his playing career. He may get the opportunity to do so in Los Angeles, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports that the Rams have spoken to the 2016 Pro Bowler about a potential contract (Twitter link).
Rams head coach Sean McVay is eminently familiar with Reed, as he was Washington’s tight ends coach in 2013 — Reed’s rookie campaign — and he was the club’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16. Reed’s most productive seasons came under McVay’s watch, but he is far removed from those promising performances, and it’s unclear how much of a difference-maker he can be moving forward.
Plus, Los Angeles has two reasonably talented tight ends on the roster already in Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett. Those two combined for 106 catches for 1,142 yards and five TDs in 2019, and Higbee’s 69 receptions were good for third on the team. Everett, a 2017 second-rounder, has played second fiddle to Higbee in each of his first three seasons in the league, so he may be appealing as a trade target for a TE-needy club that is unable to land Austin Hooper or Hunter Henry in free agency (though that is merely speculation at this point).
But trading Everett and replacing him with Reed is a risky proposition at best given the important of tight ends in NFL offenses today, so it’s perhaps more likely that the Rams view Reed as a low-risk, high-reward complement to their existing depth chart.
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