Former Houston Texans safety Ed Reed told Bleacher Report in an interview that debuted Monday that he was “lied to” as part of the organization’s efforts to bring him to the two-time AFC South champion club.
What then-owner, the late Bob McNair, then-general manager Rick Smith, or then-coach Gary Kubiak told the former Baltimore Raven to get him to sign with Texans is ambiguous. Whatever was said, it was enough to convince the five-time All-Pro to sign a three-year deal worth $15 million. Keep in mind the Ravens let Reed’s contract expire after his 11th season with the club and his starting all 16 games en route to the franchise’s second Super Bowl victory.
The 35-year-old was going to a Houston team that had stalled out in the divisional round of the playoffs the past two seasons. They needed to get over the hump and at least crack into the NFL’s final four. Having a proven winner such as Reed on the defense would probably help the locker room finally comprehend what being a champion is all about.
Not even two months after Reed signed with the Texans, he needed to have his hip cleaned up, the same one that forced him to start the 2010 season on the physically unable to perform list. Injuries happen. Much like 2010, Reed would not make his season debut until the regular season kicked off. Coincidentally, the former 2002 Ravens first-round pick made his premiere against his original draft team in Week 3.
2013 was an unmitigated disaster for the Texans, far worse than the 2017 season. After starting 2-0 with rookie receiver DeAndre Hopkins catching the game-winning touchdown in overtime against the Tennessee Titans, Houston never won another game. Also keep in mind Reed missed the first two games of that year; all he knows about the Texans is losing.
Maybe the Texans were a bunch of losers. After all, the franchise was founded in 2002 and didn’t have its first winning season until 2009. All they had to show were two division titles and two playoff wins over the Cincinnati Bengals, who hadn’t won a playoff game since 1990.
“I was surrounded by a bunch of guys just coming to work,” Reed said in the interview. “It was a job. It wasn’t football anymore. That was very draining, man.”
Kubiak had been the Texans’ coach since 2006 and all of the club’s success happened during his tenure. However, the club couldn’t snap that interminable losing streak and he was fired with three games to go. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips took over and saw the Texans finish 0-3 as interim coach and etch a 2-14 mark into franchise annals.
Maybe Kubiak and his staff were losers. That would be a convincing argument, but two years later he led the Denver Broncos to their first Super Bowl win since 1998 when he was the offensive coordinator under Mike Shanahan.
The coaching in Houston wasn’t the problem. On the 2015 Broncos staff were six former Texans assistant coaches, including Phillips, who was the defensive coordinator of a Broncos defense that finished No. 1 in the league.
Reed wasn’t necessarily a has-been either. When the Texans released him, Reed signed with the New York Jets for seven games — a team coached by one of his former Ravens defensive coordinators in Rex Ryan. Despite not producing so much as a pass deflection with the Texans, the former Raven grabbed three interceptions and four pass breakups to go along with his 22 tackles and two tackles for loss.
The Texans didn’t get the playmaking safety they hoped with the $5 million guaranteed they gave to Reed. In fact, in the same free agency that they obtained Reed, they lost a four-year veteran they took in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. The cornerback-turned-safety grabbed two interceptions, broke up 13 passes, forced two fumbles, logged 84 tackles, collected six tackles for loss, and even produced 1.0 sack. That safety was Glover Quin, and he got away from Houston to have a Pro Bowl second half of his career in Detroit.
The problem with Reed’s tenure in Houston was Reed himself. As he admitted in the interview, the game of pro football was like a job, not like a recreational activity. Reed should have discerned more to determine if Houston was the right fit instead of signing with the first offer he got.