As Eric Reid Waits, NFL Teams Continue to Push the Boundaries of Stubbornness

First, before we address the latest dumb thing the Bengals and an NFL owner have done, let's go back in time for a moment. 

To say the Bengals have a long history of players in trouble with the law is an understatement. The Bengals have the third-highest number of arrested players in the NFL since 2000, according to NFLarrest.com, behind Denver and Minnesota.

The behavior of Bengals players (and NFL players overall) may have improved over the past few decades, but, by and large, they're still among the standard-bearers for on-field hooliganism and off-field turdism.

This is the team, and owner (Mike Brown), that backed Adam Jones for years. The team that employs Vontaze Burfict, maybe the dirtiest player of all time—a player who's accumulated more than $2 million in fines and lost salary from suspensions. The team that last year in the second round drafted Joe Mixon, who was removed from some teams' draft boards for punching a woman.

We could go on with the Bengals. And on. And on some more. 

Which brings us to Eric Reid.

Reid and Colin Kaepernick were the two original players who kneeled during the anthem to protest social injustice. It's no coincidence that both players remain unsigned.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Reid is just 26 years old and one of the premier safeties in the sport. There is no logical reason for Reid not to be signed by now other than his protesting.

According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, when Reid recently visited the Bengals (who need a safety), Brown brought up the protests. 

"Brown ... initiated discussion regarding the issue of kneeling during the anthem," Florio wrote. "The conversation almost exclusively centered on the topic, with Brown explaining that he intends to prohibit it—and with Brown at one point asking Reid for his response."

I've been able to confirm Florio's reporting from a source familiar with the situation. The source said Reid was "stunned" at the brazenness of Brown's questioning.

The dumb handling of the protests doesn't stop there. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Thursday the Seahawks were going to bring in Kaepernick for a workout but changed their minds after Kaepernick informed the team he wasn't going to cease his peaceful protesting:

The NFL just can't get it right on this. Because it makes decisions based on fear, instead of facts, the league continues to mishandle the protesting. The owners believe players shouldn't have the right to be more than players, certainly not if it hurts their business. And they believe protesting hurts their business. Make no mistake, that's why owners don't want the protests. It's about control and money.

But the thing is the protests don't hurt the NFL. Sure, some fans hate them. But many support them, too. And in December of last year, Verizon signed a $2 billion streaming deal with the NFL. Hurt me like that all day, honey.

As for Reid, it's not like the Bengals have this pristine culture that Reid's actions would somehow contaminate. The Bengals' asking Reid about taking a knee is like a man dying of thirst stating he will only drink Poland Spring.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Reid would bring character to a Bengals franchise that's so often lacked it.

Let's be fair to the Bengals. It's possible they eventually sign Reid.

Still, the fact the owner of the Bengals, of all teams, grilled Reid about his protests while for decades having a cadre of terrible people on the roster is another sign that some teams and owners don't get it.

Jones was arrested last year on misdemeanor assault, disorderly conduct and obstructing official business, and a felony for harassment of a member of the medical staff in the justice center with a bodily substance.

Jones was accused of spitting on a nurse. He's alleged to have told a police officer: "I hope you die tomorrow."

Jones wasn't cut. Instead, Brown defended him.

"You are dealing with people's lives here," Brown, who has been the team owner since 1991, told reporters at the time. "It's easy to sit on high and say, 'Oh, terrible, terrible. Let's bring down the sword.' I think that's an overreaction. I'm not condoning his actions. ... But I hope it ends up that he gets his life back and he has openly apologized. He knows full well what he has done to himself. He regrets it. But it's been made into a public issue and maybe I am overly tolerant. If so, so be it."

So be it.

Teams protect guys like Jones while condemning men like Reid.

It's also not just all owners. At the owners meeting last month, coach Marvin Lewis said the Bengals were just about football.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

“We are about playing football," he told reporters. "[Players who] have other agendas, this is not the place to be. On Sunday for us and throughout the week in the building, it's about football. That's how I've approached it. Whatever happens from the league standpoint we will go along with, but that is what our guys know. And they handle that for me. I don't have to have a voice. They understand what I am about, anything beyond that gets in the way of us doing what we want to do and that's winning football games.”

The Bengals haven't won a playoff game since 1991 and are 13-18-1 the past two years.

They need many players like Eric Reid. They need a team full of them.

Earlier this month, one of Reid's former teammates, Torrey Smith, tweeted:

"

FREE ERIC REID

— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) April 5, 2018"

It's still possible that happens. That a team signs Reid. Maybe even the Bengals.

Right now, though, when it comes to his NFL career, Reid is far from free.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.