Reports link Jarran Reed to domestic assault investigation

When the Seattle Seahawks drafted Malik McDowell with their first pick in the 2017 draft it was clear they wanted to add depth at the defensive tackle rotation. While far too early to judge whether it will impact that depth chart in the fall, a King 5 news report Monday night indicated expected starter Jarran Reed may face legal trouble pending the investigation of an alleged domestic assault that took place the night before the draft.

The report says Reed has not been charged but added that Bellevue Police Department sources confirmed the inquiry is open with information still being gathered more than 10 days after the incident. A woman filed the complaint after calling police to a home in Bellevue at 3 a.m. on April 27.

We may never know if the matter had anything to do with the Seahawks’ decision to shore up the unit behind Reed, but it will surely add speculation to critics who felt Seattle ought to have targeted an offensive lineman with its top choice, or held onto one of its first round selections to draft Kevin King, later chosen by the Green Bay Packers one spot before the Seahawks were scheduled to draft at the start of day two, on April 28. According to King 5, the organization had no comment on the accusations involving Reed.

Hopefully, the matter did not involve violence and the woman filing the complain is safe and okay. As for the 6-foot-3 311-pound Reed, the NFL conduct policy stipulates a mandatory six-game suspension for first offenders if the second-year interior lineman out of Alabama ends up facing charges. Depending on the length of the police inquiry and (if it comes to that) prosecution process, we may not know of any league punishment for several months. The San Francisco 49ers’ Ray MacDonald was accused of a domestic assault in August 2014, for example, but played without discipline from team or commissioner until a separate rape allegation in December 2014.

The Seattle front office has said in the past it has no tolerance of domestic violence or sexual assault, but it drafted Frank Clark in 2015 in the second round and signed Perrish Cox this offseason. Presumably the Seahawks will undertake some level of inquiry with their own police sources and behind the scenes with Reed, but don’t expect any team action on Reed unless the BPD decides to charge him.