A key member of the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive front will miss the first six weeks of the season. Defensive tackle Jarren Reed has been docked six games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy from an incident that happened all the way back in 2017.
Reed tried to appeal the decision, but it was turned down Friday. Reed was not arrested or charged with any crime, which makes the NFL’s call here even stranger and it is likely all about the league’s public perception.
Sources: #Seahawks standout DL Jarran Reed is being suspended 6 games for a violation of the NFL's personal conduct policy for an incident from early 2017. He was not charged or arrested. His appeal was denied Friday morning. Huge on-field impact.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 22, 2019
In April, 2017 Reed was accused of assaulting a woman. Bellevue police opened a case, but never charged the defensive tackle and, again, this was more than two years ago. Why the NFL decided to act now is anyone’s guess.
Reed was a second round draft pick out of Alabama in 2016. He started five games as a rookie and 15 as a second-year player, but had a break-out season in 2018. He started all 16 regular season games and the Seahawks’ Wild Card loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Counting the postseason game, Reed recorded 52 tackles, 12 for a loss, two fumble recoveries and 10.5 sacks.
🙏🏾 I love you 12s pic.twitter.com/QH9YRPRqK0
— jarran reed (@1j_reed) July 22, 2019
It’s already been a rough offseason for Reed. He went under the knife back in April for a sports hernia he apparently suffered from all last season. Reportedly, the defensive lineman will be a full go at training camp, but that’s little consolation as he sits out the first month and a half of the season.
Reed is in the final year of his rookie contract and was due to make $1.116 million, minus the six game checks for the suspension. Considering the length of time the NFL took to drop the suspension and the fact that no chargers were filed, it’s unlikely this will affect Reed’s future with the Seahawks.
If Jarran Reed had chosen to play WR and score some TDs, he probably would've gotten away with it. https://t.co/FyczjuWnO2
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 22, 2019
What it does do is seriously hamper Seattle’s pass rush for a good portion of the season. They already had to replace defensive end Frank Clark’s production and tried to mitigate it by signing Ezekiel Ansah as a free agent this offseason. Ansah is coming off the worst season of his career, recording just four sacks in seven games with the Detroit Lions last year.
