When future Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed signed his new contract with the Houston Texans, a number of people close to the Ravens were upset losing another defensive mainstay. Head coach John Harbaugh was likely not one of those people.
Though publicly praising Reed for his services in Baltimore, the newest Super Bowl winning coach was probably quietly breathing a sigh of relief to be rid of the veteran defender.
Speculation was that the Ravens fought hard in a bidding war to retain the long-time Raven’s services for the 2013 season. However, Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun writes that, “Ravens Coach John Harbaugh wanted Ed Reed back as much as he wants a root canal.”
This report conflicts all of the emotional, heart-felt talk from Harbaugh that commended Reed for his major impact in the community as well as with the organization. These are certainly not the words that would come from a man willing to keep a model citizen like Reed around, even if it is just for veteran leadership.
So what gives?
If Preston’s quote is indicative of Harbaugh’s feelings toward keeping Reed, then the agitation might have come from an incident reported by Yahoo! Sports. The report speaks of a supposed ‘mutiny’ led by former-Raven Bernard Pollard. It is rumored that both Reed and Pollard were crucial in leading the so-called mutiny against their former head coach. Among their chief complaints were complaints about team practices and the overall treatment of players.
Ultimately, we may never know whether or not Harbaugh really wanted to keep Ed Reed in town, but he certainly will not make that information public going forward. Reed’s play was declining and a contract to keep the aging safety might have pushed the team over the salary cap threshold. After the signings of Elvis Dumervil and Michael Huff, I doubt Harbaugh will bat an eye at Reed’s departure.
