The Haason Reddick situation grew uglier Monday when the two-time Eagles Pro Bowl edge rusher requested a trade from the Jets, who immediately sent out a message on social media insisting they won’t trade the disgruntled holdout.
The Eagles traded Reddick to the Jets on April 1 in exchange for a conditional 3rd-round pick that becomes a 2nd-round pick if Reddick plays 67.5 percent of the Jets’ snaps and records 10 or more sacks.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the terms of the trade carry over to another team if the Jets do trade Reddick, but soon after Reddick’s trade demand went public, the Jets issued a statement saying it’s not going to happen:
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“We have informed Haason that we will not trade him, that he is expected to be here with his teammates, and that he will continue to be fined per the CBA if he does not report. Since the trade discussions back in March we have been clear, direct and consistent with our position. Our focus will remain on the guys we have here as we prepare for the regular season.”
The Eagles elected to go with a younger, cheaper – and less proven – edge rusher when they signed free agent Bryce Huff, ironically a former Jet, to a three-year, $51 million contract in March.
Reddick’s 50 ½ sacks over the last four years are 4th-most in the NFL, and he and Myles Garrett are the only players with double-digit sacks in each of the last four seasons.
Without Reddick, the Eagles are loaded with question marks at the edge. Josh Sweat finished last year with no sacks in his last eight games, Brandon Graham is 36 and not expected to play a major role in his club-record 15th season, Huff has had one big season and Nolan Smith is coming off a disappointing rookie year.
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With one year left on a three-year, $45 million contract, Reddick is vastly underpaid. According to Spotrac, his $15 million average annual salary is tied for 23rd-highest among all active edge rushers.
But he turns 30 next month, and teams can be reluctant to hand out massive contracts to players in that age range.
It was widely assumed that the Jets and Reddick already had a contract agreement in place when the Jets agreed to the trade, but incredibly that wasn’t the case and Reddick has been holding out of training camp in a bid to force the Jets’ hand.
According to ESPN, Reddick has already been fined over $1.3 million. The CBA does not allow these fines to be rescinded.
This is the type of mistake the Eagles just don’t make. For example, when they traded for A.J. Brown during the 2022 draft, they had already agreed to terms of a four-year, $100 million contract extension.
Reddick, who played high school football at Haddon Heights in South Jersey and went to Temple, was the 13th player taken in the 2017 draft, but he had only 7 ½ sacks his first three seasons playing mostly out of position at off-ball linebacker.
He finally blossomed with 12 ½ sacks for the Cards in 2020, then 11 in his one season with the Panthers before recording 16 in 2022 – and 3 ½ more in the postseason – and then 11 last year.
He became the first Eagle with multiple double-digit sack seasons since Trent Cole in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and the first with 11 or more sacks in consecutive seasons since William Fuller in 1995 and 1996.