Jets Still In Communication With Haason Reddick; Latest On Trade Prospect

The Jets continue to wait on Haason Reddick, but no signs this holdout will end soon are present. Reddick’s grudge against his new team persists, even as his fines have surpassed $5MM.

Although Robert Saleh has said he has not spoken to Reddick since training camp began, SNY’s Connor Hughes does confirm the edge rusher’s agent remains in talks with GM Joe Douglas. Seemingly representing progress, Hughes does well to ensure that is not the case by confirming both sides are still entrenched in their summer stances on this matter. A weekend report indeed indicated Reddick is “willing to die on this sword.”, and Hughes reported late last month some believe the former Cardinals, Panthers and Eagles starter is geared up to skip the season.

[RELATED: Jets GM Addresses Reddick’s Holdout]

Not wanting to negotiate an extension for a player who has not reported, the Jets were also not believed to be overly interested in paying Reddick due to his age (30 this month). Contract sweeteners emerged as a potential solution in this messy situation, but Reddick is believed to essentially view the Jets as having reneged on their word by refusing to revisit extension talks after a low-ball offer emerged before the trade was finalized. Hence, the standoff.

Teams around the league are obviously monitoring this situation, and ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler adds some view a trade as the escape route the Jets will eventually take. When Reddick requested a trade during the preseason, the Jets shot down the notion they would comply. While some anonymous execs may predict this will be how the saga ends in New York, the Jets would take a loss here due to being unlikely to recoup whey they gave up — a 2026 conditional third-rounder — in the March deal with the Eagles.

A team interested in trading for Reddick would almost definitely need to have a deal ready. Holdouts preceding trades have produced delayed resolutions, as the cases of Trent Williams and Duane Brown remind. Washington traded Williams to San Francisco in 2020, after he sat out the 2019 season, and the decorated tackle played out his existing contract before cashing in as a 2021 free agent. Brown held out in 2017, and the Texans traded him to the Seahawks. The tackle did not sign a Seattle extension until the 2018 offseason.

This type of conclusion may work for Matt Judon and the Falcons, but Reddick appears intent on cashing in. He has yet to earn a top-market edge rusher salary, having seen the Panthers provide a prove-it deal in 2021 — after the Cardinals used him as an off-ball linebacker for multiple seasons — and the Eagles hand over a three-year, $45MM pact.

Reddick remains attached to that pact. The former first-rounder will be unlikely to fetch true top-market money due to age and perhaps this holdout, but with 51.5 sacks since 2020 (the fourth-most this decade), he would remain a coveted commodity in a second 2024 trade.

Residing on the Jets’ reserve/did not report list, Reddick has seen his 2024 salary ($14.25MM) become nonguaranteed due to not being on an active roster when vested veterans’ salaries locked in last weekend. Reddick will lose $791K for each game missed, but The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt notes the Jets will not gain cap space for Reddick missed games. They are also missing out on quality production, but with Reddick not practicing with the team, it is debatable how well he would fare if immediately inserted into Saleh’s system.

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