CHARLOTTE - As the NFL season heads to the quarter-pole, Week 4, one major free agent remains unsigned.
Pro Bowl safety Eric Reid.
Many believe Reid is without a team because of his social activism, and for kneeling during the National Anthem alongside former teammate, Colin Kaepernick. Reid, 26, filed a grievance letter with the NFL in the offseason alleging that the league colluded to prevent his employment, with influence from President Donald Trump.
Panthers starting safety Da'Norris Searcy was placed on IR after Week 2 with a concussion. Against Cincinnati, Colin Jones, most a special teams player, was burned badly on several plays.
Panthers wide receiver Torrey Smith, who played with Reid from 2015-16 in San Francisco, campaigned for his former teammate to come help Carolina.
"Eric Reid is a Pro Bowl-caliber safety, and one of the best men that I know," Smith said. "Honestly with our injuries I hope he ends up here."
Those comments were made to reporters about 30 minutes after head coach Ron Rivera said the Panthers would continue to fill Searcy's spot with players already on the team.
"There's a lot of names that came out, and you're going to discuss what your primary needs are," said Rivera. "For us, we looked at what we have on such short notice and we stayed with what we had. We felt very comfortable with the way our guys played."
But Smith doubled down.
"If it's something where (the team) comes and talks to me about him I'd be glad to talk about him."
said Smith. "He's one of the best men that I've been around. I hope that's something that can happen for us. I know with the injuries we've had, he's a guy that can help this team."
