Haason Reddick sends warning to league ahead of Jets chapter: "Don’t think anybody is ready for what’s about to happen
The life of Haason Reddick changed unexpectedly during the offseason. With the Philadelphia Eagles needing to clear some cap space for the upcoming season and Reddick entering the final year of his deal, he was traded to the New York Jets after the team signed Bryce Huff in free agency.
Huff, curiously, reached the market after a great season with the Jets, which means a technical swap - only New York's team sent a conditional third-round pick to Philadelphia for the deal. And during his introductory press conference, the new Jets pass rusher sent a warning to the league about the upcoming season:
“I don’t think anybody is ready for what’s about to happen,” Reddick said. “It’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be entertaining. It should’ve already been that way when you look at the defense.”
He's coming from a season with 11 sacks, but his production fell just like the entire Eagles team midway through the second half of the season. After two straight years with double-digit sacks for the franchise and entering a contract year, it was clear that he was going to demand a big raise, and with Jalen Hurts on the roster, Howie Roseman couldn't offer him that.
Haason Reddick's career: why he was so late to blossom?
During the 2017 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals spent the 13th overall pick on him, just before the Philadelphia Eagles took Derek Barnett with the 14th. The thing about Reddick is that NFL teams viewed him as a pure linebacker, and he struggled in that position.
In the final year of his rookie deal with the Cardinals, he was moved to full-time pass rusher, and that's when he exploded, with 12.5 sacks right before entering free agency. On a one-year deal with the Carolina Panthers in 2021, he once again shone, this time with 11 sacks.
The Philadelphia Eagles signed him to a three-year, $45 deal in 2022 that was cheap considering his real value. He rewarded them with two great seasons, but the final year was never going to be seen at that value. That's why the Jets pulled the plug on him.