Kap has company as Reid joins him
Safety also had staged protests
Former 49ers safety Eric Reid has joined Colin Kaepernick in filing a collusion grievance against the National Football League.
Reid, 26, was one of the first players to join Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and he remains unsigned after becoming a free agent when his contract with the 49ers expired after last season.
Kaepernick, who has been out of football since the 2016 season, filed a collusion grievance against the NFL in October, arguing that owners were colluding against him. Reid, who away from the field also has been outspoken about police brutality, is the first player to join the quarterback in filing a grievance.
“Our union is aware that Eric Reid and his legal representatives filed a collusion claim, which will be heard through the arbitration process as spelled out in our collective bargaining agreement,” the NFL Players Association said in a statement. “Our union supports Eric and we are considering other legal options to pursue.”
Reid reportedly visited the Cincinnati Bengals, who didn’t offer him a contract after owner Mike Brown reportedly asked
him about his plans to protest social injustice in 2018. Reid has indicated he doesn’t plan to kneel this season, but he didn’t pledge to stand during the anthem when asked by Brown.
Collusion will be difficult to prove, said Marc Edelman, a law professor at Baruch College, City University of New York, who specializes in sports law.
“When you talk about a collusion claim by Eric Reid or any other player in the NFL, you really have to prove that two or more NFL teams have violated a claim in the league’s collective bargaining agreement,” Edelman said. “The mere fact that 32 teams have not signed a player, who was once a very good player, does not prove collusion, even if it supports the case that ... collusion could be happening.”
Edelman said that a statement by a single owner who doesn’t want to sign players who kneel would not be enough. “If there were a memo that went around or an email or text messages where all owners were asked to speak about whether they would or not, that might amount to an implicit attempt at collusion,” he said.
He noted that at the far end of the spectrum would be a “smoking-gun document,” in which two owners agree not to sign players who knelt. “One would expect that individuals in the NFL would be smart enough not to do that even if they were colluding,” Edelman said.
No such document has been found.
This is not the first time the NFL has had a collusion lawsuit brought against it. The NFLPA filed suit in 2010 claiming owners had agreed to set an illegal salary cap. A determination of whether collusion existed was not made because, as part of the settlement to end the 2011 lockout, the NFLPA agreed to dismiss all “unknown claims.” The union in 2012 tried to have the lawsuit reinstated, saying it unwittingly had agreed to have the suit dismissed but a federal judge in 2015 rejected the argument and the lawsuit was rejected.
In October, Reid was part of a players coalition that met in New York to discuss the issue of players kneeling during the national anthem. The meeting also included NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and team owners and executives, but Kaepernick was not included.
Houston Texans owner Bob McNair encouraged the players to stop kneeling.
“You fellas need to ask your compadres, fellas, stop that other business,” McNair said, according to audio of the meeting obtained by the New York Times. “Let’s go out and do something that really produces positive results, and we’ll help you.”
Reid later broke from the coalition before it reached an agreement with the NFL, which pledged to contribute $89 million to social-justice causes. After the agreement, players who had been raising a fist during the anthem — including Philadelphia safety Malcolm Jenkins — stopped protesting.
In November, Reid said he left the coalition after he received a text message from Jenkins asking if he would stop protesting if the NFL donated $89 million.
“I give kudos to the NFL for wanting to step up and help us with regard to systemic oppression,” Reid said. “I question their intent behind it. I personally think they just want the protests to end because it’s affecting their bottom line.”
In March, before he visited the Bengals, Reid said his agent had been contacted by a “couple of teams” that had expressed some degree of interest in signing him. He also outlined his thoughts on protesting in 2018.
“I’m just going to consider different ways to be active,” Reid said. “Different ways to bring awareness to the issues of this country. To improve the issues happening in this country. I don’t think it will be in the form of protesting during the anthem. … I think we’re going to take a different approach to how to be active.”
Last week, 49ers general manager John Lynch said the team has stayed in contact with Reid and his agent, and hadn’t ruled out re-signing the strong safety. However, the 49ers have since signed strong safety Jaquiski Tartt to a two-year contract extension and added another player at the position, Florida’s Marcell Harris, with a sixth-round draft pick.
Reid, a 2013 first-round pick, was viewed as one of the top safeties on the free-agent market. However, other notable safeties such as Kenny Vaccaro, another first-round pick from 2013, and Tre Boston also remain unsigned.
In March, one day after the start of free agency, Reid said on social media that NFL owners, not general managers, were the reason he remained unsigned. He also indicated he wouldn’t take a discount to sign.
“The notion that I can be a great signing for your team for cheap, not because of my skill set but because I’ve protested systemic oppression, is ludicrous,” Reid said. “If you think is, then your mind-set is part of the problem too.”