The 49ers signed Jeff Reed today, hoping the accomplished and eccentric veteran placekicker will rediscover his form after the Steelers waived him on Nov. 16 following a nightmarish season in Pittsburgh.
Reed will travel with the team Saturday to Green Bay where he will handle the kickoff and placekicking duties against the Packers on Sunday. On Tuesday, the Niners waived Shane Andrus, who made 2 of 4 field goals in two games filling in for Joe Nedney, who has been sidelined by a strained right knee and bone bruise in his plant leg.
San Francisco contacted Reed following Nedney’s injury on Nov. 14
against the Rams. Reed’s agent, Donal Henderson, said Thursday night
that his client wasn’t interested at the time because it was “too quick”
after he had been let go by Pittsburgh. Henderson said Reed will fly
from Pittsburgh on Friday and will sign his contract and take a physical
with the Niners.
Reed, 31, spent nine seasons with the Steelers and exited as the
15th-most accurate kicker in NFL history (81.9) — quite a feat
considering he spent his career at Heinz Field, infamous for its poor
field conditions and tricky winds.
But Reed ranked 32nd in the NFL in field goal percentage (15 of 22,
68.2) after this season’s first nine games and was 0 of 4 from 40 to 49
yards. He missed two field goals (45, 49) in a 17-14 loss against
Baltimore, missed a potential 40-yard game-winner in regulation in a
15-9 overtime win against Atlanta and missed a 46-yard attempt that
could have iced an eventual 27-21 win over Cincinnati. In his final
game, he missed a 26-yarder against the Patriots and blamed the field
conditions at Heinz Field.
Reed was the NFL’s most accurate kicker (88.5) from 2007-09 and signed a
$2.81 million contract in the offseason. The Steelers are paying him
the remainder of his salary — $1.2 million — this season because no
team claimed him off waivers.
Reed has also gained some attention off the field for his funky
hairstyles and for being cited by police twice last year. In February,
2009 he was cited for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief. In
October, 2009 he was cited for public intoxication.
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