The Houston Texans Cut Ed Reed And Ate $5 Million After He Called Out The Coaching Staff

Reed's role with the struggling team had been steadily diminishing. On Sunday he played just 13 snaps, and after the game he said "we got outplayed and outcoached."

When asked to clarify what he meant by outcoached, Reed said he thought players looked fatigued and said, "It's just certain situations. If you're watching the game it ain't no-brainers."

The Texans cut Reed yesterday after paying him $5 million for just five starts.

Now reports are surfacing that his postgame comments were a big reason why.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport explained that rationale:

"When you look at his comments, he essentially said that the Texans were outcoached and then he said again on Monday that he still believes that. When you talk to people around the NFL, the one really troubling thing for a losing team - especially a team that had high expectations - is when a veteran who isn't playing, who carries a lot of weight in the locker room, starts speaking out against the coaches. That's really a situation that can derail a team."

The decision actually makes sense on a football level.

Reed is old and the Texans have no shot at making the playoffs, so they might as well give their young safeties playing time so they can be evaluated going forward.

That $5 million is a sunk cost.

But the idea that they released a respected veteran like Reed for vaguely criticizing the coaching staff hints at some dysfunction in Houston.