Tashan Reed joins Washington Post as Commanders beat reporter

The shuffling of NFL beat reporters has continued into the beginning of football season.

On Thursday, Washington Post sports editor Jason Murray announced that Tashan Reed would be joining the paper as a Washington Commanders beat reporter. Reed joins the Post after seven years at The Athletic where he most recently served as a senior writer covering the Las Vegas Raiders.

Reed is the second Raiders beat writer to leave The Athletic in the last few months, with Vic Tafur leaving Las Vegas to cover his hometown San Francisco 49ers.

Several other NFL beat writers have departed The Athletic this year. Ben Standig left the Commanders beat at the New York Times-owned outlet over the summer, and Nate Taylor left the Kansas City Chiefs beat to join ESPN. Some of the positions, however, have been filled. Jesse Newell, formerly of the Kansas City Star, took Taylor’s spot, for instance.

At The Athletic, Reed covered numerous stories involving the Raiders, including the scandal involving former head coach Jon Gruden’s racist emails that ultimately resulted in his firing. He also hosted the five-part narrative podcast series “Between the Lines” that focused on the experience of Black athletes, coaches, and executives in the NFL.

Tashan Reed was the recipient of the Terez A. Paylor Emerging Writer Award from the Pro Football Writers Association in 2023. He will start for the Washington Post on Sept. 15 as the Commanders begin their Week 3 preparation for, you guessed it, the Las Vegas Raiders.