Eric Reid, the N.F.L. safety whose kneeling protest alongside Colin Kaepernick stirred one of the league’s biggest controversies in years, signed a free-agent deal with the Carolina Panthers on Thursday.
Reid, a Pro Bowl-caliber defensive back, was a standout for five seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, but he became a lightning rod in 2016 when he joined Kaepernick, then the team’s quarterback, in kneeling on the sideline during the national anthem to protest police brutality and societal inequity for people of color.
Last season, as Kaepernick remained unsigned, Reid continued the protest. The 26-year-old Reid entered free agency as one of the top players at his position, but remained unsigned even as safeties with less impressive résumés, like Tre Boston and Kenny Vaccaro, found jobs.
Like Kaepernick, he filed a grievance against the league, claiming the teams were colluding to keep him out of the N.F.L. The status of the Reid’s grievance is unclear now that he has been signed. It is also unclear what impact Reid’s signing will have on Kaepernick’s grievance, which last month survived a motion by the N.F.L. to have it dismissed.
The decision to sign Reid came just a few months after David Tepper became the new owner of the Panthers. The team’s founder and previous owner, Jerry Richardson, was adamantly opposed to players protesting during the anthem. Tepper, by contrast, has been an outspoken critic of President Trump, who has repeatedly railed against the league and the players who protest.
A year ago, Trump’s attacks on the league unnerved N.F.L. owners, who were afraid they would inflame fans and lead to boycotts and sponsors canceling deals with teams. The grievances filed by Kaepernick and Reid rely in part on the contention that those fears drove the owners to shun those players.
Now that he is back on the field, Reid will step into an ideal situation with the Panthers. The team was desperately in need of a safety after placing Da’Norris Searcy on injured reserve, and they are in a bye week, which will give Reid a week to learn the team’s defense, players and coaching staff.
Carolina’s general manager, Mary Hurney, said he and Coach Ron Rivera had Reid at the top of the list when they first discussed replacing Searcy.
“He is a physical safety with good ball skills and playmaking ability,” Hurney told the Panthers website.
Even amid the controversy created by the kneeling protests, Reid’s exclusion from the league had confounded many, most of all Kaepernick.
At an Amnesty International event in April, Reid introduced Kaepernick, who had won the organization’s ambassador of conscience award, and Kaepernick talked about the difficulty of watching Reid be excluded from the game in his prime.Kaepernick said he was pained by Reid’s having been ostracized “when he is widely recognized as one of the best competitors in the game.”
The N.F.L. Players Association congratulated Reid with a statement from its president, Eric Winston.
“Our union is proud to stand by one of its strongest player leaders and we congratulate Eric for making it back to doing the job he loves,” Winston said.
Reid entered the league as a first-round pick from Louisiana State in 2013. He made the Pro Bowl in his first season and has 10 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles in 69 career starts.
Kaepernick, who is in his second year of inactivity, remains unsigned. His legal fight against the N.F.L. is ongoing.
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