SF 49ers free agency: Making the call on Jordan Reed

The SF 49ers are dealing with a stack of players hitting NFL free agency this offseason, prompting questions about Jordan Reed returning.

A year ago, the SF 49ers went to great lengths trying to improve the depth behind All-Pro tight end George Kittle. Rumors surfaced they were in on now-Cleveland Browns tight end Austin Hooper, yet head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. eventually settled on two other contingency options: 2020 rookie tight end Charlie Woerner and the veteran, Jordan Reed.

Reed, a former member of the NFL 100 club and one-time Pro Bowler, signed with the Niners on a one-year prove-it deal after missing all of 2019 with injuries. Considering how big a role both injuries and concussions had played in Reed’s career, getting him a chance to reunite with Shanahan seemed like the perfect low-risk, potentially high-reward move.

Well, it sort of went that way.

At first, Reed seemed to be the perfect complementary piece to Kittle. The former sure made his presence felt in Week 2 against the NY Jets with seven catches for 50 yards and two touchdowns, but a knee injury suffered the following week against the NY Giants eventually sidelined Reed for the following five games.

Meanwhile, as Kittle was dealing with his own foot injury suffered in Week 8, Reed’s return to the field generated inconsistent results at best.

Reed managed just one start over the rest of the season and did manage to put together a 62-yard game in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints, also adding two more touchdowns to give him four total on the season. But looking at the entire scope of his production — 26 catches for 231 yards and those four scores — one has to question whether or not Shanahan and the SF 49ers are going to be willing to bring him back.

Does Jordan Reed make sense as an SF 49ers free-agent target?

In Reed’s favor is the fact few players on the roster went through all of 2020 with a clean bill of health. So one shouldn’t automatically hold his own injury against him.

That said, with nearly 40 other pending free agents poised to hit the open market and with a limited amount of salary cap space ($13.74 million, according to Over the Cap), perhaps the only way the Niners entertain a reunion is if Reed would come back on a veteran’s minimum deal.

There is a chance of that happening. Reed, who’ll turn 31 years old before the start of the upcoming season, didn’t flash the numbers indicative of a true bounce-back campaign worthy of anything higher. And he didn’t exactly help his unfortunate injury reputation by staying healthy over the majority of 2020 either.

Yet there’s a pretty good indicator of how San Francisco feels about him in the upcoming future.

After appearing for a season-high 42 offensive snaps in Week 15 against the Dallas Cowboys, Reed’s usage all but disappeared over the SF 49ers’ final two games of the year. In Week 16 against the Arizona Cardinals, Reed saw just 10 snaps and then never took the field in Week 17 against the Seattle Seahawks. Sure, Kittle had returned from his foot injury by that point. But the Niners were also shorthanded at wide receiver, missing both Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.

It’s possible Shanahan saw everything he needed to know about Reed potentially being a long-term fit within his offense.

While there’s always a chance Reed returns on the cheap simply because there aren’t any other legitimate options for him to go elsewhere, an educated guess would suggest San Francisco elects to pass on his services in 2021.