Justin Reid gets candid on interest from Eagles before $31,500,000 move to Saints - “Conversations were pretty intense”

Safety Justin Reid will be playing for the third team of his NFL career this upcoming season. Reid signed a three-year, $31.5 million contract with the New Orleans Saints this offseason.

After spending the last three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and winning two Super Bowls, Reid had interest from multiple teams in free agency but decided to return back to Louisiana, signing with the Saints.

Appearing on the "Up & Adams" show, hosted by Kay Adams, Reid opened up to Adams that he was "pretty close" to signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles, as well as the Tennessee Titans, were two other teams heavily interested in Reid.

He said he was close to signing with the Eagles and thinks he could have been a good safety in their scheme, but they didn't have the cap space to afford him.

Reid said:

“Pretty close, actually, really pretty close, just because me and the defensive back coach there have a really good relationship. The defensive system was the same defensive system that I ran at Stanford. So that whole Vic Fangio system, I know it pretty well, and the conversations were pretty intense. The only drawback was they were just so limited in cap space that we couldn't make a deal that made sense. But the situation the conversation was happening.”

Reid's new contract has him paid as the 15th-highest paid safety in the NFL. He had 87 tackles, two interceptions, and nine passes defended last season.

Returning back to NOLA was a factor in Justin Reid signing with the New Orleans Saints

Justin Reid during NFL: JAN 26 AFC Championship - Bills at Chiefs - Source: Getty

Justin Reid was born in Prairieville, Louisiana, and graduated from Dutchtown High School in Geismar, Louisiana.

When he hit the free agent market, he said a quarter (eight) of NFL teams reached out to him, but none caught more attention than the New Orleans Saints. When the Saints reached out to him he told his family members, who then urged him to sign with the Saints.

Reid said:

“I was letting them know, ‘Hey, there’s a possibility I end up signing with the (New Orleans) Saints.' And my text message thread with the family started blowing up, ‘Sign with the Saints! Sign with the Saints!’"

Reid fulfilled what his family members wanted by signing with the Saints. Most of his family members were even in attendance during his introductory press conference.

Reid also said that is was a dream of his to play for the Saints:

“Every kid in Louisiana dreams about playing for the Saints."

Justin Reid will be alongside Tyrann Mathieu, another player from the state of Louisiana. Reid will be entering his eighth season of his NFL career, and interestingly enough, he signed the same exact contract (3-years, $31.5 million) in 2022 with the Kansas City Chiefs.