Cardinals sign former UA LB, Falcons castoff Reed
Two days after signing veteran cornerback Robert Alford to a three-year deal after he was released by the Falcons, the Cardinals added another Atlanta castoff by signing veteran linebacker Brooks Reed to a one-year contract worth a reported $2 million.
The Cardinals announced the move on Saturday.
In Alford, the Cardinals now have a new starting cornerback to pair opposite of perennial Pro Bowl performer Patrick Peterson, and Reed is seen as a possible starting insurance policy in case the team loses Markus Golden to free agency.
Those signings come on the heels of the Cardinals claiming linebacker Tanner Vallejo off waivers from the Browns on Wednesday. Vallejo, 24, has the potential to be a starter somewhere in the mix, but can step in and immediately contribute on special teams.
Several other teams tried to grab Vallejo, 24, including the Giants, Jets, Bengals, Vikings and Chargers, but the Cardinals had the first chance because they finished last in the league this past season with a 3-13 record.
They will maintain their first rights to waiver priority throughout the offseason and until the fourth week of the 2019 regular season.
Reed, 31, was released by the Falcons on Thursday as part of Atlanta’s continuing cost-cutting moves to find more available cap space in retooling its roster. It saved the Falcons $4.5 million in cap space. A Tucson native who attended Sabino High School and the University of Arizona where he was first-team All-Pac-10 as a senior, Reed is an eightyear NFL veteran.
He was a second-round pick of the Texans in the 2011 draft and spent four seasons with Houston before signing a five-year, $22 million deal with the Falcons in March, 2015. In 120 career games, which included 86 starts, he has 269 tackles, 211⁄2 sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one interception.
Reed appeared in 60 games (34 starts) for the Falcons the past four seasons, playing predominantly at defensive end. He played in all 16 games last season, making eight starts, and finished with 24 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. In his 60 games for the Texans, Reed made 52 starts and played predominantly at linebacker.
He has appeared in nine postseason games, collecting 29 tackles, six sacks, a forced fumble and four tackles for loss.