There is speculation that Ravens safety Ed Reed could miss the first six games of the regular season due to his arduous recovery from hip surgery. Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun writes:

The Pro Bowl safety is almost a certainty to start training camp on PUP. In fact, it would be surprising to see Reed play in the preseason. He recently said he is 35 percent recovered from offseason hip surgery. The most likely scenario is placing Reed on the Reserve PUP at the start of the regular season, which would mean he misses at least the first six weeks.

Reed, who turns 32 in early September, has battled hip and neck pain in recent years. The future Hall of Famer contemplated retirement back in spring. Reed’s iffy status comes as no surprise to the Ravens. As insurance, they signed hard hitting but undisciplined former Cowboys free safety Ken Hamlin.

-- Andy Benoit

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It doesn’t matter if Ed Reed will turn 32 this season, and it doesn’t matter if his surgically-repaired hip is about 35 percent healthy (his estimation). He wants a new contract.

So he told 105.7 The Fan on Tuesday, as captured here by the Baltimore Sun .

“I’m not making it a big deal,” Reed said on The Norris and Davis Show. “[But] I think it needs to be taken care of.”

See, I don’t understand this, and I really won’t understand it if the Ravens relent and give him guaranteed money. Reed has three years left on his contract that will pay him $19.7 million. But we don’t even know for sure that Reed won’t retire after this season.

From the story:

“I’m not going to ask the Ravens about anything if I’m not going to play any much longer,” he said. “I appreciate the opportunity that the Ravens have given me. I’m not about to ask them for anything if I’m not going to be playing. My focus is to get myself back. I’m coming back for at least for one more year.”

It was four years ago when Reed signed a six-year contract extension worth $40 million (a deal that officially took effect in 2007). According to his agent, Reed received a $15 million signing bonus in the largest deal ever given to a safety at that time.

In his interview on 105.7 FM, Reed seemed to base his pursuit of a new deal on the fact that he has maintained his level of play while other safeties have not. He pointed out that Ken Hamlin (who signed a $38 million deal with Dallas in July 2008) and Roy Williams (the eighth overall pick in the 2002 draft – the same draft where Reed was selected 24th) have since moved on to other teams. Hamlin recently signed with the Ravens because of Reed’s uncertain status.

At this point, Reed said it’s unclear whether he’ll be healed enough to begin the regular season in Baltimore.


--Josh Katzowitz

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As we wave goodbye to offseason news and as we wait for the regular season to begin – or, at the very least, training camp and the preseason – we fill our days with thoughts of the abstract, and we ponder questions that can never be truly answered. Who are the best players in the NFL at their position? What separates the top man at his spot from No. 4 and No. 5?

Well, we’re attempting to answer that in June and July. Andy and Josh will explore each position on the field and debate the merits and flaws of each player. Clearly, it’s reasonable for smart men to disagree, and these arguments during the next few weeks will only reinforce that notion. Even as we watch film, talk to NFL insiders and conduct our own painstaking research, our top-five lists, though they’ll likely bear some similarities, will disagree. Which makes this whole endeavor worthwhile.   

Today, we debate the top safeties – both free safeties and strong safeties.

Andy Benoit’s top five

5. Nick Collins, Packers

4. Brian Dawkins, Broncos

3. Darren Sharper, Saints

2. Ed Reed, Ravens

1. Troy Polamalu, Steelers

The safety position has become the lynchpin to so many of the complex defensive schemes we see in today’s NFL. Versatility is key. On that note, Polamalu is the most valuable defensive player in the NFL. He is a thumper against the run, he has fantastic range in coverage and, wherever he is on the field, he’s a first-class playmaker.

Polamalu’s presence is what enables Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau to be aggressive in his scheme. We saw last season that when Polamalu is out of the lineup, the Steelers D can be reactionary.

Reed makes the list on the assumption that his bum hip won’t be a major issue come September. He may be the best centerfielder in NFL history. Sharper is an interception machine and, more importantly, a leader. Without his stability in the New Orleans’ secondary last season, we’d have a different defending Super Bowl champ right now. Dawkins turns 35 this season but hasn’t lost a step. Amazing. Collins has become a regular at the Pro Bowl. His instincts have improved every year, plus, he’s not a bad tackler.

Josh Katzowitz’s top five

5. Bob Sanders, Colts

4. Bernard Pollard, Texans

3. Brian Dawkins, Broncos

2. Ed Reed, Ravens

1. Troy Polamalu, Steelers


Well, it’s hard to argue against Polamalu. He’s the safety who scares every QB in the league, and you could really see the impact on his team when he was injured last season. The frenetic, sideline-to-sideline impact Polamalu made simply wasn’t there.

As long as Ed Reed is healthy and returns to play – he recently said he’s about 35 percent healthy, which doesn’t sound promising – he’s No. 2. Not much to be said about Dawkins – one of the top safeties in NFL history. Pollard flies under the radar because he spent his first couple years in the league with Kansas City and he hasn’t been a Pro Bowler, but he’s amassed 289 tackles in the past three seasons to go with four interceptions and three fumble recoveries in just 13 games last year. Was it coincidence that, when Pollard signed with Houston, the Texans’ total defensive yards and defensive rushing yards decreased dramatically? I don’t think so.

Sanders hasn’t played much the past few years because of knee and arm injuries, but, at the age of 29, he’s still in his prime and still has the talent that led him to two Pro Bowls and the 2007 NFL’s defensive player of the year honor. Yes, he’s not healthy very much, but when he is, he’s one of the top guys in the league. I like Nick Collins as well and I think his stock is rising, but I just don’t think he’s a top-five guy yet.

Andy’s rebuttal

I like that you went with Pollard – that shows you’re paying attention. Few people even know about the fifth-year pro. The Texans put Pollard in attack mode last season – as opposed to react mode that Kansas City stuck him in – and he blossomed. Pollard is a formidable run-stopper and underrated playmaker. I want to see him perform at a high level for a 16-game span before giving him the nod, though.

Shortly after writing my list, Texans tight end Owen Daniels told me in a phone interview that Sanders is the best opponent he’s faced. That made me regret not including the former Defensive Player of the Year. Honestly, I love the guy. But the fact of the matter is, Sanders is made of glass and the Colts were 14-2 without him last season.

Someone else we both need to consider is Saints strong safety Roman Harper. He’s the X-factor in Gregg Williams’ aggressive blitz scheme.

Josh’s final word

Yeah, I had reservations about Sanders, because he’s played eight games the past two years, and how can you call a guy a top-five safety when he’s played so little?

You’re right about Harper. The guy can flat-out tackle, he’s a force when he crosses the line of scrimmage and gets into his opponent’s offensive backfield, and he’s coming off a heck of a year.

It’s funny, though. Three guys on my list (Polamalu, Reed and Sanders) are coming off major injuries. Two guys on your list are at least 34 (Sharper and Dawkins), Reed is 31 and Polamalu is 29. Which tells us what exactly? I don’t know. Maybe they just don’t make Hall of Fame safeties like they used to, or maybe the younger safeties are just extremely mediocre. Either way, enjoy the safeties on our list for as long as they’re playing. Some of them won’t be around much longer.

--Josh Katzowitz and Andy Benoit

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Ed Reed’s status for 2010 is much iffier than many people realize. The future Hall of Fame safety is coming off April reconstructive hip surgery.

Per ProFootballTalk.com, here are some of Reed’s comments from an appearance earlier today on Sirius Mad Dog Radio:

On the recovery…
"It's still a long slow process, you know, and I try to do some strengthening stuff to strengthen it right now and I know it's just weak but I mean, yeah, I had to have reconstructive surgery," Reed said.  "They had to go in and reconstruct my whole hip.  They took about [six or seven] inches from my IT band, replaced my labrum that I tore.  They went in two spots, so I mean it's a slow process.  Plus I have other injuries that, you know, really probably had an effect on causing this that I have to pay attention to also.   So I'm just taking my time.

"I want to come back.  I want to be ready for the first game but I don't know how soon that would happen, how soon I would be back.  You know, we're gonna continue to do the things to try and get back and at least play this year for the fans, man, cause they've been hounding me, man.  They've been asking me, 'Are you gonna play?   Are you coming back?   I would love to see you play at least one more year.'  So hopefully we got at least one more in us."

On if he’ll play the full 2010 season…
"Well, it's a four to six month process to getting yourself back to 100 percent, to get yourself in shape to start working out for a season, it's a year-long process of getting back to 100 percent. I don't want to come back too early, man, and injure myself again."

On the business side of it….
"You know, there's some business stuff out there, you know, dealing with the (Ravens) and dealing with the organization for a long time and, you know, taking care of things the way I've taken care of things for my surgery and, you know, seeing doctors without really their consent or talking to them much. I told (the Ravens) about the surgery and made sure I made them aware.  But just dealing with those organizational business things, you know, some of those things have to be taken care of also.  So my percentage, I honestly couldn't tell you right now.  My doctors were excited with my progress.  I'm on my off week right now.   They didn't have me working out this week so it's been great but, you know, I don't know, man.  I could be at least a good 35 percent right now, man.  But I'm walking so that's a huge thing.   I'm walking and messing with my kids this week.   You know, I even had to do a little running but nothing major where I had any pain.

I mean, I played the last couple of games with a torn labrum and just messed my hip up worse, you know, going back out there and doing things the way I was able to do things. It was at a high level but, you know, [I] don't want to go back and play in pain, man, and don't want it to be weak at all.  So that's gonna play a big part in what I'm doing."

 

--Andy Benoit

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Newly-signed Ravens S Ken Hamlin told the Baltimore Sun last week that he has nothing to prove. I look at that statement, and I shake my head in wonder. Nothing to prove? Hell, Hamlin has everything to prove.

“I play at a high level,” Hamlin told the paper. “You’re never going to get the numbers that you want stat-wise. I know what I bring to a team. I know the type of player that I am.”

Sure, he used to play at a high level. That’s something on which we can agree. He was a Pro Bowler in 2007 after amassing five interceptions, 15 passes defended and 62 tackles. He was good the year before when he played for Seattle. But the past two seasons in Dallas, his interception totals dropped (one pick in 28 games), and the Cowboys cut him in April because he wasn’t worth the cost.

Hamlin has said that you can’t just look at the stats to show how he played.

So, Hamlin thinks he has nothing to prove, but I say Hamlin needs to prove he can still play at a high level. He needs to prove whether he can work his way into the starting lineup if FS Ed Reed decides to retire. He needs to prove whether he can help what continues to be a pretty good Ravens defense.

Hamlin isn’t sure what his role on this year’s squad will be, but he’d be a good bet to back up Reed, who will turn 32 in September, and play insurance man in case the oft-injured FS can’t recover from his ailments. The official Ravens web site, though, questions whether Hamlin could beat out Tom Zbikowski (who started the four games Reed was out last season) for the starting job in case Reed doesn’t play. So, yeah, Hamlin has something to prove.

“While Hamlin could affect Zbikowski’s playing time because both largely play free safety,” Mike Duffy writes, “Zbikowski is far ahead of Hamlin when it comes to knowledge of the Ravens’ defense.”

--Josh Katzowitz

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