Panthers To Sign LB Haason Reddick

Haason Reddick will reunite with his former college coach soon. The four-year Cardinals linebacker intends to sign with the Panthers, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Years after coaching Reddick at Temple, Matt Rhule will bring the linebacker to Carolina on a one-year, $8MM deal. The contract will max out at $8MM but contain a base value of $6MM, per NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter).

While Reddick indicated earlier this offseason he wanted to stay in Arizona, the Cardinals’ $14MM-per-year deal for J.J. Watt complicated that path. Instead, he will join ex-Temple teammate Robby Anderson in committing to play for Rhule again.

The Panthers will take a midlevel flier on Reddick, who was viewed as a first-round bust before a contract-year breakout. Said emergence did not take place until Chandler Jones‘ injury finally prompted the Cardinals to turn to the former Temple pass rusher. The Cards continued to shift Reddick around the formation, primarily slotting the college pass rusher off the ball from 2017-19. He struggled in that capacity, being benched on multiple occasions. But the former first-round pick put it together last season, registering 12.5 sacks despite only becoming a first-string pass rusher midway through the year.

Reddick figures to join Brian Burns and Yetur Gross-Matos as edge rushers in Carolina. While Reddick does have extensive experience now as a pure linebacker, his performance in that role would certainly not generate much interest. In his senior season at Temple, which also doubled as Rhule’s last with the Owls, Reddick registered 9.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss.