In light of Haason Reddick’s holdout that extended into the regular season and the reasons for that holdout, it would be fair to expect the Jets’ edge defender and pending free agent to seek a new employer when the season ends. Indeed, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler hears that Reddick – who made his Gang Green debut in Week 8 – will “get as many sacks as he can and get out” (subscription required).
One of the most-discussed players in PFR pages this year, Reddick was acquired by the Jets in an offseason trade with the Eagles. Entering the last season of the Philadelphia-constructed contract that he had outplayed, he was hoping for a lucrative extension, and he believed the Jets reneged on their pledge to conduct true extension talks with him during the offseason. The Jets, however, had maintained they were not willing to discuss a long-term deal before Reddick began work in their defense. This led to a months-long standoff, a saga that included Reddick being dropped by his former agency and subsequently signing with Drew Rosenhaus.
Rosenhaus was able to facilitate a resolution to get Reddick back on the field, though the two-time Pro Bowler has gotten off to something of a slow start (which is to be expected given his long layoff). Working in a rotational capacity over his first three games as a member of the Jets, Reddick has posted a half-sack and three total tackles.
The sample size is clearly much too small to draw any definitive conclusions about Reddick’s earning power, and he has seven more games to prove that he is still the same fearsome pass rusher that he has been in recent years. His market will be limited to a degree by his age (he is currently in his age-30 season), but even if he should struggle to generate the kind of production that he has become accustomed to over the remainder of the current campaign, he should still find a fairly healthy market in free agency.
After all, he is coming off four consecutive seasons of double-digit sacks and three straight seasons with a pass rush win rate over 20% (h/t Fowler’s ESPN colleague, Matt Bowen). While any team, including the Jets, would welcome that kind of talent on the edge, the relationship between Reddick and the Jets may be damaged beyond repair.
Plus, New York may be entering a rebuild – depending on how it proceeds with quarterback Aaron Rodgers – and while GM Joe Douglas and the other members of the current regime that were involved in the Reddick situation this year may not be retained, Reddick may not want to be part of a rebuilding operation anyway at this stage of his career.
