Seahawks Claim D.J. Reed off Waivers
The 49ers just lost a player they didn’t want to lose.
A day after they placed backup nickelback D.J. Reed on the reserve/Non-Football Injury List with a torn pectoral muscle, the Seahawks claimed him off waivers, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Now the Seahawks have someone to replace their starting nickelback, Quinton Dunbar, who’s on the Commissioner’s Exempt List for allegedly committing armed robbery and paying off witnesses. Reed will be eligible to play for the Seahawks in November or December when his pectoral muscle heals.
Meaning the 49ers just helped their biggest rival fill one of its biggest holes.
Not ideal.
But there wasn’t much the 49ers could do. If Reed had injured himself during OTAs or minicamp, the 49ers could have placed him on Injured Reserve and kept him for another year. But Reed wasn’t eligible for I.R., because he injured himself away from the 49ers facility -- there were no OTAs or minicamp this offseason. So the 49ers had to place him on the reserve/NFI List, meaning he had to clear waivers to stay on the 49ers. And he didn’t clear waivers. The Seahawks got him.
Too bad for the 49ers.
To keep Reed, they would have had to give him a spot on the 53-man roster at the end of training camp before moving him to I.R. And in that case, they would have had to cut someone else to make room for Reed on the initial 53. Meaning they probably couldn’t avoid losing someone, so they chose to lose Reed.
The 49ers took Reed in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, and spent lots of effort developing him the past two years. He’s a versatile young defensive back who plays nickel, corner, safety and kick returner.
The 49ers were so high on Reed in 2019, they drafted punter Mitch Wishnowsky in Round 4 instead of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who’s now a quality nickel for the Saints. The 49ers clearly thought Reed was better than him.
Now without Reed, the 49ers will make Jamar Taylor their backup nickel for the upcoming season.
Again, not ideal. The 49ers simply didn’t have better options.
