Reed to IR

October 12, 2019

by Steve Thomas

The Washington Redskins announced today that star tight end Jordan Reed has been placed on injured reserve, most likely ending his 2019 season.

In addition, The Hog Sty has confirmed that a multi-million dollar home in the Leesburg, Virginia, area owned by Reed was placed on the sale market this week.  The move to injured reserve coupled with the sale of his home, which appears based on the published photos to be the home he lives in, calls into question Reed’s status with the team going forward.

Reed has been in the concussion protocol since being subjected to an illegal hit by Falcons safety Keanu Neal in the third preseason game.  Reed has infamously suffered many concussions dating back to his college career at Florida and has not played a full season since he was drafted by the Redskins in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft.  The fact that his recovery from this latest concussion has taken this long, with no end seemingly in sight, has caused many to question whether Reed may retire from football, although neither Reed nor the Redskins have made any announcement to that effect.

Reed’s contact runs through 2021.  He has a $10.3M salary cap hit in 2020, and $9M in 2021, but his dead cap money is just $1.8M in 2020 and zero in 2021, so a retirement would result in a net cap savings.

In six seasons with the Redskins (not including 2019), Reed earned 329 receptions in 446 targets, for a 73.8% catch percentage, 3,371 total yards, 10.2 yards per reception, and 24 touchdowns.  Reed’s catch percentage is the best in NFL history (since 1992, which is the first year the stat was kept) for a tight end with over 250 career receptions.  He was selected to the 2016 Pro Bowl.  Former head coach Jay Gruden considered Reed to be the most important figure in his offense, but his injury history frequently caused the team to have to adjust, often with negative results.

If Reed has, in fact, played his last down for Washington, he will go down as the second-most productive tight end in team history behind Chris Cooley.  His presence in the offense will almost certainly cause the Redskins to reconsider the plan for the tight end group going forward.