Eric Reid to continue with protest over national anthem

Newly signed Panthers safety Eric Reid met the North Carolina media for the first time Monday and addressed whether he will continue to protest what he sees as racial injustice and social inequality during the national anthem.

"I said I would be considering other ways and I'm still considering," said Reid, who was wearing a black T-shirt with the saying #IMWITHKAP on it. Reid has been a vocal supporter of the movement initiated by his former teammate in San Francisco, Colin Kaepernick.

Both Reid and Kaepernick, who remains an unsigned free agent, have grievance cases pending against the NFL that contends there was collusion to keep them out of the league based on their stance on social justice issues. Despite signing a one-year contract with the Panthers, Reid said he will maintain his collusion grievance "without a doubt."

But he declined to discuss his grievance any further, nor how his deal with the Panthers came to be.

"Those circumstances have to do with my case," said Reid, who played the first five years of his career in San Francisco. "So you'd have to talk to my lawyers about that."

But he did briefly discuss why he split from the Players Coalition, a group of current and retired NFL players created to promote social equality. He called it "an NFL-funded subversion group." The league has committed at least $90 million to support the group's causes.

The 26-year-old Reid said he has received "a lot of support" from Kaepernick.

"As we said when we started, Colin and I, nothing will change unless we talk about it," Reid said.

Shortly after Reid signed with Carolina last Thursday, reports surfaced that San Francisco offered Reid a contract to come back to the team. Reid acknowledged that to be true during his news conference, but added the Panthers "had a better offer."