The NY Jets are riding a wave of momentum following their thrilling 24-3 win domination of the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football in Week 3. Unfortunately, there's still a Haason Reddick-shaped elephant in the room.
The Jets remain at odds with their prized offseason addition as Reddick has now missed three regular-season games. His total fines accumulated are over $8 million at this point, and there's been no indication that this situation is nearing an end.
But for Reddick and the Jets, it has to end soon. If Reddick is ever going to play a down for the Jets, one would assume that the next few days are the time for both sides to reach an agreement.
The Jets were forced to play three games over their first 10 days of the season, a grueling stretch that also included a road trip out west. That meant very little time for the team to contact Reddick and hammer out a deal.
But with an extended absence underway before their Week 4 game against the Denver Broncos, the Jets have an opportunity to finally get Reddick in the building. If it doesn't happen before then, it might never happen.
NY Jets running out of time to resolve Haason Reddick situation
There is no hard deadline when it comes to the Reddick situation, at least not until later in the season. The most extreme lengths Reddick can go to would be to hold out until the Tuesday following Week 10.
That's the date Reddick needs to report by if he doesn't want his contract to toll to next season, allowing the Jets to retain his rights. Whether the Jets would let it get to that point remains to be seen.
Reports suggest that the Jets could look to trade Reddick before the trade deadline, which is a few days before Week 10. It's possible the Jets could simply look to cut bait and rid themselves of the headache before then.
This week feels like a proper soft deadline, though. The Jets have 10 days to reach some sort of a compromise with their star edge rusher. That's the longest such break they will have before the trade deadline approaches.
The issue for Reddick is that he's running out of leverage. The former All-Pro likely believed that some of the leverage had shifted in his favor following Jermaine Johnson's season-ending Achilles injury, but that was before the Jets' defense tallied seven sacks on Thursday night.
Will McDonald is among the league leaders in sacks through three weeks, and his breakout has ruined any chance Reddick had of reassuming some sort of leverage. He has none in this situation, which makes his continued holdout all the more confusing.
By all accounts, no team is willing to trade for Reddick and give him the contract he's seeking. It's an empty holdout. At this stage, it almost feels like a matter of principle for the Temple product.
It's impossible to predict what Reddick will do moving forward given the lack of logic involved in the situation. But what we do know is that this week is the ultimate opportunity to reach a deal.
If Reddick still isn't in Florham Park by this coming Sunday, there's a very good chance he never will be.
