Taylor Reed (born August 7, 1991) is a former gridiron football linebacker. He played college football at Southern Methodist University. He has also been a member of the Dallas Cowboys, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, New England Patriots, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Calgary Stampeders, Ottawa Redblacks, Toronto Argonauts, and Houston Roughnecks.

Reed played high school football for the West Brook Senior High School Bruins of Beaumont, Texas and earned all-district honors.^[1]

Reed played in 52 games for the SMU Mustangs from 2009 to 2012, recording 400 total tackles. He was named second-team All-Conference USA in 2011 and 2012, honorable mention All-Conference USA in 2010 and All-Freshman Conference USA in 2009.^[1]

Reed was signed by the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) on May 10, 2013 after going undrafted in the 2013 NFL draft.^[1] He was released by the Cowboys on August 30, 2013.^[3]

On October 2, 2013, Reed was signed to the practice squad of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.^[1]

Reed was signed to the Dallas Cowboys practice squad on November 18, 2013.^[3] He was released by the Cowboys on November 26, 2013.^[1]

On December 30, 2013, Reed was signed to the practice squad of the New England Patriots of the NFL.^[1] He was signed to a futures contract by the Patriots on January 20, 2014. He was released by the Patriots on March 10, 2014.^[3]

Reed was signed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League on June 27, 2014.^[1] He was named Defensive Player of the Week for week twelve of the 2014 CFL season after recording six defensive tackles, one tackle for a loss, one special teams tackle and one quarterback sack.^[4] In two seasons with the Tiger-Cats Reed played in 33 games contributing 141 defensive tackles, 7 special teams tackles, 10 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions.

As a free agent Reed signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL on February 10, 2016.^[5] He was released by the Stampeders on September 12, 2016.^[6] Prior to being released he had played in all 10 games to start the 2016 season, contributing 41 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble. The reason for his release was the exceptional play of national linebacker Alex Singleton.^[7]

Reed was signed by the Ottawa Redblacks of the CFL on September 13, 2016; only one day after being let go by Calgary.^[8] He played in all 8 of the remaining regular season games for Ottawa, and their two playoff games. During the 2016 season with Ottawa he accumulated 39 tackles and 1 quarterback sack. He set a career-high 12 tackles against Winnipeg on October 29. Reed helped lead Ottawa's defense to a championship in the 104th Grey Cup game versus his former team, the Calgary Stampeders, with a final score of 39-33 in overtime. On January 10, 2017 the Redblacks confirmed they had signed Taylor Reed to a one-year extension. Reed would have become a free agent on February 14, 2017.^[9] In his second season with the Redblacks Reed set a new career high with 94 tackles in 18 games: He also had four sacks. Following the season he was not re-signed by the Redblacks and became a free agent on February 13, 2018.^[10]

After being on the open market for a week Reed and the Toronto Argonauts agreed to a one-year contract on February 20, 2018.^[11] On August 15, 2018, Reed was released by the Argonauts.

In October 2019, Reed was picked by the Houston Roughnecks in the open phase of the 2020 XFL Draft.^[12]

• College stats
• Hamilton Tiger-Cats bio
• SMU Mustangs profile