Reed Blankenship
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Former Philadelphia Eagles safety Reed Blankenship.
It turns out Philadelphia Eagles safety Reed Blankenship was keeping a lot inside the last 4 years — in terms of feelings.
Unburdened by having to answer to Philly’s powers that be now that he’s with a new team, all of those feelings finally came to the surface as Blankenship unloaded on his old team on Thursday.
Blankenship signed a 3-year, $24.75 million free agent contract with the Houston Texans on March 9.
“That honestly felt like the first time in my whole career, that somebody really wanted me as a player and as a person,” Blankenship told NFL reporter Aaron Wilson.
That sounds like a pretty miserable time for Blankenship in Philadelphia, where he went from an undrafted free agent to one of the standouts on Philadelphia’s defense as a full-time starter for the last 3 seasons. That included a Super Bowl win following the 2024 season.
Blankenship’s terrible time in Philadelphia seemed like a direct contradiction to how the fans felt about him, as few players were as highly thought of or respected on the defense over the last few seasons.
Moving forward, Blankenship might not want to expect that same type of warmth from the city of Philadelphia or Eagles fans.
Eagles Fans React To Blankenship In His Feelings
As you can probably imagine, Philadelphia fans were left confused by Blankenship taking shots at his old team and city on his way out the door.
“Was literally a fan favorite here and we were the team to take a chance on him being a UDFA, but okay Reed,” Twitch streamer and Eagles fan Kei wrote on her official X account. “LOL.”
“Are we deadass?” The Philly Pod’s Victor Williams wrote on his official X account.
In Philadelphia, “deadass” means the same as “are you serious?”
“What?” Eagles fan Uncle Jut wrote on his official X account. “He was voted Captain of a Super Bowl team, and received an extension from the team. That’s a crazy take.”
“Bro the Eagles signed you undrafted in 2022, elevated you to a starter in 2023, extended you with guaranteed money in 2024, and voted you as a team captain in 2025,” Eagles Fan Central wrote on its official X account.
There were some — not many — who wanted to cut Blankenship some slack.
“Blankenship was a UDFA out of Middle Tennessee State and worked very hard to earn his payday in the NFL, so I assume this is more so about his early football days than the Eagles,” Draft Day Trade’s Jake Rabadi wrote on his official X account. “Eagles had him as a priority UDFA, gave him multiple pay raises and made him a team captain.”
Blankenship Was Terrible in Final Game in Philly
Blankenship probably dropped his value in the free agent market by several million just by how he played in his final game in an Eagles uniform — a 23-19 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card Round.
Against the 49ers, Blankenship seemed generally lost on defense and got cooked on a trick play that led to a touchdown pass from wide receiver Jauan Jennings to running back Christian McCaffrey.