Panthers made a sweeping statement by signing Eric Reid, but is it all that profound?

Look, I’m not that interested in whether Eric Reid kneels during the national anthem for the Carolina Panthers.

I’m very interested in whether he can keep up with Julio Jones on a deep route or make an open-field tackle on Alvin Kamara.

Bravo to the Panthers for ignoring the noise and making a progressive hire by signing Reid — who became known as the first person to kneel alongside quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the national anthem in 2016 — to a one-year contract Tuesday.

It undoubtedly helps that David Tepper, Carolina’s new owner, has basically given his players permission to protest social injustice however they choose. Tepper recently told CNBC that it was “dead wrong” to accuse NFL…