Chiefs’ Jah Reid is grateful for new contract, win over old team

All week long, the Chiefs’ coaches told their players that if they got in a short-yardage situation against the Baltimore Ravens, they had the perfect play dialed up — provided they executed it.

Jah Reid got the memo.

Early in the first quarter of their 34-14 win over the Ravens on Sunday, the Chiefs found themselves in a third-and-1 situation and got the look they wanted. They dialed up the play — a power run to the left — and Reid, the Chiefs’ starting right tackle, hustled to the second level and dived at the legs of Ravens inside linebacker Daryl Smith, spilling him to the turf.

That — plus some solid blocks on the front side — was all Charcandrick West needed to take it 38 yards for a touchdown.

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Reid’s block was key — an impressive display of athleticism for a 6-foot-7, 320-pounder — and he knew it, and he was understandably pumped about it afterward.

“I had an amazing block on the back side of that,” Reid said with a grin afterward. “I was pretty jacked up about it.”

It was certainly a highlight of what turned out to be an emotional game for Reid, who was drafted by the Ravens in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft and spent four seasons in Baltimore prior to his release before the 2015 regular-season opener.

“It means so much,” Reid said of the win. “I made this game really important to me … you spend so much time here, and now you’re gone, of course you want to beat them. You want to win, and we did. So it feels great.”

Reid also didn’t hide the fact that he was eager to beat his old teammates, many of whom he talked to before the game.

“Oh yeah, I have a lot of great friends over there, especially in the offensive line room and the offense,” Reid said. “I have a good relationship with everybody on that team, but of course, I don’t care — I want to win for the team I’m on.”

Reid said he greeted warmly by his ex-teammates.

“Yeah, I was very cordial, and everybody was very accepting and they were congratulating me (for starting),” Reid said. “Everybody was very nice. This is a first-class organization here in Baltimore, it is. I will not say anything bad about them. But, I wanted to win.”

Reid, who was named one of the Chiefs’ three captains for the game, also earned a measure of redemption in the days prior to the showdown, when he signed a three-year extension with the Chiefs that could keep the 27-year-old in Kansas City through 2018.

“Now, I personally can just focus on playing football, which is what I’ve been doing,” Reid said. “It’s out of the way and it’s a (good) situation, so I couldn’t be happier. I couldn’t ask to be in a better place, a better situation with better people. So I’m very fortunate, and I’m happy.”

Reid, who has started nine games at right tackle this year, will earn base salaries of $860,000 in 2016, $2.25 million in 2017 and $2.6 million in 2018. It’s possible the Chiefs could still look to upgrade the right tackle position this offseason, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Jah Reid has been a solid addition to the team.

“He’s a good person, and he’s been an effective player for us,” Andy Reid said. “He’s a guy you want to keep around.”

Reid said Jah Reid’s versatility — he has played every position along the line but center during his NFL career — also played a role in the decision to extend him.

“That’s important, and we’ve got a couple guys like that,” Andy Reid said. “Jeff Allen’s another one that can do that for us, and we’ve seen Zach (Fulton) play a couple different positions, and (tackle) Donald (Stephenson) stepped in and played guard. The more you can do, it helps your value.”

Jah Reid said the opportunity to compete for playing time going forward was attractive to him.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Reid said. “I want to be a starter here for a while.”

But for now, Jah Reid is focused on the day-to-day grind. The Chiefs are 9-5, winners of eight straight and probably headed to the playoffs. He is a starter on a new long-term deal, and he’s fresh off a win over his old team.

Things, quite frankly, couldn’t be better.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Jah Reid said.

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ Jah Reid is grateful for new contract, win over old team."