Did The Ravens Ever Really Want Ed Reed Back?

Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed (20) during the blackout delay against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Ed Reed signed with the Houston Texans a few weeks ago, after the Texans and the Ravens engaged in a financial fire fight to determine where Reed would land. Or so we thought.

Mike Preston of The Baltimore Sun is now reporting that the Ravens never wanted Reed back at all, and just made a low offer out of respect for Reed. Preson went so far as to say that John Harbaugh wanted Reed back “about as much as he wants a root canal”.

People in league circles have been postulating that the Ravens were never serious about Reed because of the numbers in the Ravens contract offer(no word on what they were, but the rumor is around 3 million per year). This all lines up with the statement by Ed Reed that said that he “Never fully understood the business side of the NFL until now”.

Reed is a Ravens legend, but the Ravens have made an attempt to overhaul the entire defense, especially the middle, which, in Ozzie Newsomes own words means Defensive line, inside Linebacker and Safety. The Ravens front office and fan base will always have a soft spot for Reed, who is about as unique a player as the league has ever seen, but the time was right for the two sides to part ways. I wish him the best of luck in Houston and I sincerely hope he does not hold any grudge over the way things went down this offseason, I would love to see him come back as a secondary coach or something in the future he in Baltimore.