We bolstered our secondary Thursday as Ed Reed has agreed to terms on a contract a day after the veteran safety cleared waivers.
Reed, who is expected to be at today's Jets practice, has 61 career interceptions. The 5'11", 200-pounder, a first-round pick of the Ravens in the 2002 draft, played his first 11 seasons in Baltimore before appearing in seven games with the Houston Texans this season.
He has led the NFL in interceptions three times — collecting 9 INTs in both 2004 and '08 while adding 8 thefts in 2010. In 15 postseason games with the Ravens, Reed tied for the most playoff interceptions in NFL history with nine including a pick in last February's Super Bowl 34-31 triumph over the San Francisco 49ers.
An eight-time All-Pro selection and nine-time Pro Bowl selection, Reed was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 and holds the all-time record with 1,506 interception return yards.
Jets head coach Rex Ryan, who was a Ravens defensive assistant from 1999-08, is quite familiar with the future Hall of Famer's talents. He acknowledged on Wednesday that he had conversations with GM John Idizk about Reed.
We currently have the NFL's 24th-ranked pass defense (251.4 YPG) and had only five interceptions through the first nine games. But Ryan likes his safety group and it should only get better with this most recent addition.
"The one kid I think's got a chance to be really good, and that's Antonio Allen," said Ryan. "I don't think there's any doubt. He played man coverage, he's learning every day. You put him out there with an excellent veteran player like [Dawan] Landry — I think that has been great for him as a mentor. You've got Jaiquawn [Jarrett], who's done a good job for us. And then you also have [Josh] Bush back there. So I think we have a good group of safeties."
