Ed Reed is a Hall of Famer, a rare talent who can get away with being out of position, but still managing to come away with the right play at the right time. And if the Patriots can get the impending free agent on their terms this offseason -- that is to say one, or maybe two years tops, on short money -- they should jump at the chance.

When it comes to the Patriots signing guys near the end of their careers, you can put them into three categories: savvy veterans who help both on and off the field (Rodney Harrison, Anthony Pleasant, and to some extent, Junior Seau), those who offer little in the way of on-field production but serve as a mentor for younger players (Fred Taylor, Shaun Ellis) or miserable failures on both counts who are usually gone within six months (Albert Haynesworth, Chad Ochocinco and Joey Galloway).

Depending on how much the 34-year-old Reed has left in the tank -- and that’s debatable at this point in his career -- you’re looking at someone between the first and second group. Reed is no longer the completely transformative presence he was earlier in his career, but is still remarkably durable for a player on the north side of 30 years old (according to Pro Football Focus, of the 19 games the Ravens have played this year -- including the postseason -- Reed plated every snap in 14 of them) who could teach a postgraduate class on the art of playing deep safety to the likes of Devin McCourty.

We all know about Bill Belichick’s well-known affinity for Reed, which extends to Tom Brady. (Before last year’s AFC title game, Brady had three reminders written on his wristband, one of which was “Find [Reed] on every play.”) There’s this. And prior to this year’s AFC title game, Belichick said, “Can’t say I’ve [coached] against anyone better in the secondary than Ed Reed.” (For what it's worth, the feeling is mutual.) In the wake of the loss earlier this month, Belichick found Reed on the field and the two embraced, with Belichick imploring him to “finish it.” There’s a respect level between the two that can’t be faked, and the idea of a defender with a world-class resume like Reed getting a chance to work with Belichick is intriguing on a number of levels.

But is he the right fit for the Patriots at this stage of his career? Harrison -- as well as an opposing scout we spoke with -- believes the Patriots need a thumper at safety, a fear-of-God type at defensive back that will make opposing receivers quake at the idea of coming over the middle for fear their heads are going to get torn off. It’s important to note that Reed is not a classic big hitter at safety. In truth, while Reed isn’t that type of guy, he’s the next best thing -- a hitter with cover skills. Reed is more of a classic center fielder, a roamer who always has to be accounted for. 

If you’re looking for historical parallels, the closest is Harrison. The two are classic defensive backs who both maintained a high level of play well into their thirties. Both have a bit of a rep -- Harrison was universally accorded as one of the dirtiest players in the league and racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, while Reed has been similarly docked on several occasions for hits that were deemed egregious. This past season, there was the $21,000 for knocking Deion Branch into next week in a Patriots-Ravens game this past September and $55,000 for a hit on Victor Cruz when Baltimore faced the Giants. And he was also fined $50,000 for what the league perceived to be his third violation in three seasons of the rule prohibiting helmet-to-helmet hits against defenseless players after drilling Pittsburgh’s Emmanuel Sanders.

The Patriots were able to revive Harrison’s career -- he ended up playing the better part of six seasons in New England (he missed most of 2005 and 2008 because of injury) and won a pair of Super Bowl titles before retiring prior to the start of the 2009 season. Reed’s career doesn’t exactly need resuscitation in the same fashion, particularly if the Ravens win a Super Bowl this week, but the desire to prove himself in an entirely different scheme with an entirely different set of teammates could prove to be an intriguing enough challenge for him to leave the comfort of Baltimore for his first time as a pro.

If Reed does sign with the Patriots, he would be older than Harrison was when he inked his deal with New England prior to the start of the 2003 season. (Harrison was 31 in his first year with the Patriots, while Reed will turn 35 next September.) But when you’re discussing Reed, durability doesn’t seem to be a problem -- according to Pro Football Focus, he was second on the Ravens in total defensive snaps this season with 1,339, trailing only fellow defensive back Cary Williams. As for his coverage skills, PFF had him as Baltimore’s best defender against the pass, finishing the year with a +4.5 grade.

The signing wouldn’t take place in a vacuum, of course -- the addition of Reed would cause shuffling in the New England secondary, particularly for Devin McCourty. If Aqib Talib departs as a free agent and the Patriots do acquire Reed (even for a season or two), does New England move McCourty from safety back to corner and put Reed in centerfield? Are you inhibiting McCourty’s development as a football player if you keep pingponging him back and forth between corner and safety? (And on a related note, what would it mean in terms of playing time for other younger defensive backs like Tavon Wilson?) I know that the Patriots believe in versatility above almost everything else, but the idea of offering your best defensive back a comfort level by telling him he’s going to be at one position for the foreseeable future would almost certainly help his growth.

There’s always the distinct possibility that Reed decides to retire. (Despite the fact that he’s already on record as saying he’ll play next year, If the Ravens do win the Super Bowl this week, the option of retiring as a champion certainly has to be appealing to Reed.) And there’s also the possibility that despite the fact that the Ravens have some salary cap questions going forward, they could make some room and keep him around for another year. Or, another team could decide to step up and make a ridiculous offer.

Regardless, the potential fit of Reed in New England is hard to overlook. For three straight years, the Patriots’ past defense has ranked among the three worst in the NFL in terms of yards per game. Reed’s Ravens rode Joe Flacco’s arm to a dominating performance in Foxboro in the AFC championship game, with the Pats secondary getting abused downfield repeatedly -- a problem that persisted early and often over the course of the past season. Given that vulnerability, the need for a game-changing center fielder is undeniable. And whether in 2012 or in the history of the NFL, few safeties have been capable of delivering such consistent game-changing plays as Reed.