Eric Reid Open To Returning To 49ers On One-Year Deal

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reports that the 49ers never made free agent S Eric Reid a contract offer and would accept a one-year contract from the 49ers for the $5.676 million he made last year.

According to Florio, Reid’s preference is still to find a long-term home, but he would like to be back with the 49ers because he loves the community, the area, and his teammates.

On Monday, Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reported that the 49ers were interested in re-signing Reid, but they felt that couldn’t commit to him long-term.

“I know that the San Francisco 49ers talked about re-signing him, but earlier in the process, they wanted to do a one-year deal with him, because they got some younger guys with him or might look to draft a safety, they couldn’t make a long-term commitment for him,” Garafolo said, NinersNation.com. “I am told he wanted a long-term deal, with significant guarantees and the Niners weren’t in a position to do that. That’s why he didn’t return to San Francisco. And it’s also why, on a market that’s a little slim on money for the safeties that he’s had to wait a little bit.”

Reid is visiting with the Bengals this week and Ian Rapoport reports that he has been “methodical” about his free agency plans this offseason and he believes there’s a “real chance” he signs with Cincinnati.

Reid, 26, is a former first-round pick of the 49ers back in 2013. He played out the final year of his four-year, $8,480,736 contract with the 49ers and is currently testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NFL career.

In 2017, Reid appeared in 13 games for the 49ers and recorded 67 tackles, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and four pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 30 safety out of 87 qualifying players.

We have him featured in our Top 50 Available 2018 NFL Free Agents list.