There is a lot of angst in Philadelphia over losing the production of Haason Reddick after the trade of the veteran edge rusher to the New York Jets for a 2026 third-round pick that can become a second-rounder if Reddick reaches certain benchmarks for the Jets this season.
Set to enter the final season of a three-year, $45 million deal Reddick returned to the Delaware Valley (he's from Camden, N.J. and attended Temple University in Philadelphia) before the 2022 season and ,few would argue that Reddick outperformed that contract.
His real leverage point was after the 2022 campaign when he produced 19 ½ sacks over 20 games through Super Bowl LVII. Reddick was named a second-team All-Pro that season and wrecked the NFC Championship Game by knocking 49ers’ quarterbacks Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson out of the game.
Reddick arrived at training camp the next season with a soft-tissue injury that some assumed was the start of a hold-in to get a marked-adjusted tweak to his deal.
Turns out Reddick quickly returned to practice but did suffer a torn ligament in his right thumb that required surgery. He was back by the start of the regular season but playing with a cast contributed to a slow start.
Ultimately, Reddick finished with 11 sacks and played in all 18 games through the playoff loss in Tampa. He is one of two NFL players who’ve recorded 10 or more sacks in four consecutive seasons.
There was some thought that Reddick and others on the Eagles’ defensive front were chasing sacks and freelancing a little too much as the wheels came off the defense down the stretch.
The scuttlebutt around the league is Reddick wanted $20M to $25M in an adjusted deal and the Eagles permitted him to seek a trade after although there was no request from the player’s side.
Once Bryce Huff, believed to be an ascending pass rusher by the Eagles, got a three-year, $51.1M deal in free agency, and Philadelphia worked out a scaled-down deal for Josh Sweat the die was cast on Reddick.
GM Howie Roseman got a little frustrated with a question about the Reddick trade that boiled it down to the simplistic view of Reddick for the future pick.
“I think you are asking a question in a vacuum without all the other factors,” the GM said. “So, if we want to talk about all the factors that go into building the team and to the resources that we put into each position, we can do that.
“But I don’t think the question is really fair and accurately describes the transaction."
It's never a vacuum.
Everything from youth, shelf life, contract, and the internal projections of Huff and second-year player Nolan Smith was involved in the decision-making.
Reddick is set to turn 30 in September and has been staying away from voluntary offseason work with the Jets to get a kicker to his contract. New York's mandatory minicamp is this week and Reddick wasn't talking about his attendance while appearing at a Family Fun Day in his hometown of Camden, N.J. over the weekend.
Jets coach Robert Saleh had already confirmed that Reddick skipped the entire Jets voluntary offseason program, which included nine OTA practices, forfeiting a significant $250,000 workout bonus in his contract.
Player performance will be the ultimate judge when it comes to the Reddick trade but those who believed the veteran would have played out the final year of his deal with the Eagles with no acrimony were always ill-informed.
