Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid joined Mike and Mike on ESPN radio early Monday morning and was asked about Eric Berry, who remains away from Chiefs training camp as he has yet to sign his $10.8 million franchise tender.
Reid said a couple of interesting things in one answer. He was asked about Berry’s absence and whether there would be an awkward moment when (if?) he comes back.
“I’ve been around it long enough,” Reid said. “I’ve seen about every situation there is with this. I want the best for the guy. I want him to make as much money as they can doing this because these careers don’t last forever. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s just part of the business. It’s a stinky part of the business. But I don’t think there’s going to be an awkward moment. That’s not how Eric is. I don’t have that kind of relationship with him. And to be honest with you I’m not dealing with that anymore anyway. I’m out of the personnel business, which isn’t a bad thing. I did that when I was in Philadelphia and had a little bit more say in that area. I don’t think that there’s going to be an awkward moment. I get it.”
Interesting to see Reid say that he wants Berry to make as much money as possible. This is why players like Nick Foles say they only want to play for Reid. I’m sure other coaches feel that way about their players but the coaches are management. They’re on the other side of the negotiating table. It’s not something you hear a coach acknowledge so directly all the time. It makes me wonder if this is a good cop-bad cop dynamic with Reid staying close to the player while GM John Dorsey negotiates. I’m not sure....
“He’s going to come back whenever that is,” Reid continued. “And who knows. This is a business decision that he’s making. I’m not sure when he’s going to be back. But when he does and he comes in he’s one of the guys that we love on this football team and the’s a big part of it so he’ll be welcomed back.”
Chiefs GM John Dorsey didn’t say last week that he knew exactly when Berry would be back but he did say he was confident that Berry would be playing Week 1, indicating that he heard from the agent that he would be back at the “appropriate time”.