The 49ers took a risk when they placed waived/Non-Football Injury defensive back DJ Reed. Their hope was that he’d clear waivers and revert to their injured reserve. That plan backfired when their division rival Seattle Seahawks claimed him off the waiver wire.
San Francisco could’ve kept Reed on the reserve/Non-Football Injury list where he was placed after suffering a torn pectoral in the offseason. So why would the 49ers waive him instead of keeping him on the reserve/NFI list?
Players who begin the season on the reserve/NFI list are able to return to practice after six weeks. That return is followed by a three-week practice window, after which a team either has to activate the player or put them on season-ending injured reserve.
General manager John Lynch on Monday in his press conference indicated Reed’s chest injury would likely put him out for the year. Since he suffered the injury in an offseason workout away from the team, they couldn’t simply put him on injured reserve, which would officially end his season.
Had San Francisco kept Reed on the reserve/NFI list all year, they would’ve carried his $827,843 cap hit. Had he reverted to IR he would not have counted against the cap.
By waiving him though they ran the risk of a team claiming him, which Seattle did. Now the 2018 fifth-round pick out of Kansas State will suit up for the 49ers’ biggest rival.
Reed served in multiple roles for the 49ers, including free safety, nickel corner and special teams. Last season he started at nickel when K’Waun Williams missed the team’s Week 15 game vs. the Falcons. He had 54 tackles, 1.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups in 31 games across two seasons.
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