Jarran Reed glad to have found way back to Seahawks
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 25: Jarran Reed #90 of the Green Bay Packers looks on against the Miami Dolphins during the first half of the game at Hard Rock Stadium on December 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Ima
It didn't appear as though a future reunion between the Seattle Seahawks and defensive tackle Jarran Reed would be likely after his departure from the team after the 2020 season.
Reed refused to work with the Seahawks on a contract restructure after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped up growth in the NFL's salary cap. The reworked contract wouldn't have paid Reed any less money. It would have just moved the salary cap commitments to future years.
Instead, Reed asked for an extension from the team that the Seahawks weren't willing to entertain. He was ultimately released after a trade partner wasn't found.
But like so many other Seahawks before him, Reed did find his way back to Seattle after all. Reed signed a two-year deal to return to the team that drafted him in 2016 last month after spending the last two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers.
"That’s the part about this game, it’s a football side and a business side," Reed said on Tuesday. "At that particular time, on my end, I didn’t feel like the ends were meeting. They had a decision to make, I had a decision to make, and obviously I made that one and they had to make theirs. There were no hard feelings, it was just all business. Eventually, it led me back here."
Reed was happy to have found his way back to the Seahawks. He said that he took his time in making his decision and that he did have offers from other teams to consider.
"We sat down and went through everything," Reed said. "Overall, just as far as playing, where I would be playing, how I would be used, schemes, and all of the different types of things played a factor. Just the icing on the cake was me already being in Seattle, me already playing for this organization, and me already knowing people in the organization. After a while of negotiating with a couple of other teams, it became another factor in why I was going to come back to Seattle."
Despite the way things ended the first time around, Reed said he knew the chance to return to the Seahawks existed. Players such as Marshawn Lynch, Al Woods, Quinton Jefferson, Luke Willson and Bruce Irvin had all played for other teams before returning for another stint in Seattle.
"Nobody really wanted to part ways, but the door was always open. That was the one thing that I knew," Reed said. "However everything falls down on the business side of football, however camp falls down, the guys they like, or guys that they feel like they need, that’s on them. We just knew that when I left, I knew there would always be a possibility of me coming back, but it was just when. They had to move on, I had to move on, but it eventually led us back to here, back to me being a 12 again."
Reed is one of the pieces the Seahawks are turning to in hopes of fixing a defense that has slid from its previous standards of play. The Seahawks finished last season ranked 26th in total defense and 25th in points allowed. Seattle's rush defense was the primary source of frustration as the unit allowed an average of 150.2 yards per game on the ground, which ranked 30th in the league.
While Seattle has changed its scheme from a 4-3 to a 3-4 while Reed has been away, it's still a defense he is quite familiar with having played in it with Alabama and with the Packers.
"We played that system at Alabama as well, so I am very comfortable in it. I don’t think there will be any type of issues and I can just slide in and fit perfectly as long as we know the terminology that we are using and different types of other things like when we play in certain personnel," Reed said.
Seattle added defensive end Dre'Mont Jones from the Denver Broncos to help bolster their defensive front and signed linebacker Bobby Wagner and Devin Bush to solidify the second layer of the unit as well. Reed believes that those moves along with his own return to the team should help position the group well entering next season.
"The way we are building upfront, we can stop the run and rush the passer, but now it’s the part of everybody coming together, gelling together, and getting to know each other," Reed said. "Then when we hit the ground running, we have to put it all together and we have to play stout, defensive football. We have to go back to the old Seattle defense."