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.

This completes the defensive exodus from Baltimore, it is officially Time to start over on D in Baltimore.

Stay tuned for details as this story developes.

Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed (20) after their game against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

So last night the word among experts and people in the know was that the defection of Ed Reed was all over but the crying. Then something happened, around 1 in the morning, word started to spread that the Ravens were still in discussions with Reed and that there was a 50-50 shot for the Texans to steal him at best. Now Reed has left Houston and has gone back to Atlanta(his offseason home).

The word on the street currently is that Reeds Agent and members of both the Ravens and Texans front office will meet with each other this week at the NFL league meetings. Jason LaCanfora has theorized that the Texans Offer was in the ballpark of the Ravens offer and that Reed might not be willing to leave for just a small raise.

This is all pretty interesting stuff, i am not sure I ever remember there being so much drama over what has to be a 2 year contract before. but it is a very good sign that the Ravens are still fighting for Reed. Just the fact that they arent willing to just give up on him is the type of thing that will speak volumes to Reed. Reed is very concerned with respect and feeling valued, the Ravens are showing both to him right now.

I am a big Ed Reed fan, i think he is probably the best safety to ever play this game in for my money there are only maybe 6-7 players at any position that were better than him in his prime. That said, I am not sure which direction I want this thing to go. on one hand, the Ravens need a solid leader in the backfield to hold things together and there is still no better coverage safety in the league than Reed. On the other hand Reed is in the twilight of his career, threatens retirement every offseason(except, oddly enough, the one where is is about to get paid), and he cant tackle my grandmother in the open field.

He is still a valuble player because of the way he alters opposing offenses schemes, but i am not sure he is going to be worth what he gets paid(many are speculating the Texans offered him between 4.5 and 5 million per year). What do you think Ravens fans?