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NFL Contract Notes: Henry, Barkley, Smith, Reddick, Hubbard

December 1st, 2024 at 7:25pm CST by Ely Allen

Ravens running back Derrick Henry has been enjoying a phenomenal first season in Baltimore. The team signed him to a two-year, $16MM deal that saw him receive $9MM in cash in the first year. Henry’s deal also came with five $500K incentives.

His incentives are maxed out at $2MM, so he can only cash in on four of those five incentives, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. So far this year, Henry has hit on three incentives: 1,200 rushing yards, 13 total touchdowns, and 15 total touchdowns.

The remaining two incentives would require him to reach 1,500 rushing yards or would require the team to win the Super Bowl. While the Ravens still have a ways to go in order to get to the big game, Henry only needs 93 yards in the team’s final four games in order to max out his incentives.

Here are a few other contract notes from around the NFL:

  • Eagles running back Saquon Barkley also is tracking down some incentives. Smartly, none of Barkley’s incentives revolve around rushing touchdowns, thanks to the infamous “tush push,” per Garafolo and Ian Rapoport. Barkley will earn $250K if he reaches 1,500 scrimmage yards (he’s 36 yards away from that total after today’s game in Baltimore) and an additional $250K if he reaches 2,000. Additionally, each incentive acts as an escalator for next year’s base salary, adding a potential $1MM to his total contract value. He also would receive $250K for a second-team All-Pro or Pro Bowl selection and $500K for a first-team All-Pro selection. That incentive would act as an escalator for next year, as well. Lastly, Barkley would earn $250K each for victories in the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl.
  • Jets left tackle Tyron Smith may have just been placed on injured reserve, but his health up to that point had been paying dividends. His recent injury history required him to settle for a heavily incentivized contract with only $6.5MM in base salary and $12MM in playing time incentives. By playing every snap through nine games, Smith essentially qualified for the 50% of offensive snaps threshold that earns him $2.75MM. Every additional game after that would essentially net him an additional $1MM, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, with the final five games being worth $1.25MM per week. Unfortunately, he only fit one game in before moving to IR. He could make his way back to earn a couple more incentives, but New York may prefer to get an extended look at their tackle of the future, Olu Fashanu, instead.
  • Also in New York, pass rusher Haason Reddick still has an opportunity to earn some playing time incentives after ending his holdout, per Cimini. Through the four games (before today) Reddick has appeared in, he has played 179 of 275 defensive snaps, good for about 43 percent. If he can keep that percentage over 40, he’ll earn a $791,628 incentive bonus, but his last two games have seen him only play 37 percent of the team’s snaps, so that bonus may be in danger. Reddick could also earn a $500K bonus if he reaches eight sacks, but with only 0.5 sacks through five games with only five more remaining, that incentive feels out of reach.
  • Lastly, we saw the Panthers reward running back Chuba Hubbard with a recent four-year, $33.2MM extension. Per our friends at OvertheCap.com, the deal comes with a signing bonus of $7.71MM and only sees the first year’s base salary guaranteed.

Woody Johnson Nixed Jets Effort To Acquire Jerry Jeudy, Impeded Joe Douglas On Bryce Huff, Haason Reddick

November 20th, 2024 at 10:26pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Jets are barreling toward their 14th straight season wrapping without a playoff berth, and their Robert Saleh-Joe Douglas regime’s unraveling points to ownership having a more difficult time filling its HC and GM positions come 2025.

Woody Johnson‘s meddling has become an issue for the Jets. The longtime owner admitted he went around Douglas to fire Saleh, something that led to the sixth-year GM losing power during his final weeks on the job. Other Jets power brokers led the way in the Davante Adams trade and Haason Reddick resolution talks. Earlier this year, however, Johnson stood as a roadblock to Douglas’ efforts to improve the team’s roster in other ways.

We heard in March the Jets joined the Browns and Patriots in pursuing Jerry Jeudy. The then-Broncos wide receiver, a trade-block staple alongside ex-teammate Courtland Sutton, went to Cleveland for fifth- and sixth-round picks. Denver may well have obtained more for the former first-round pick had Douglas gotten his way.

The Jets are believed to have offered a Day 2 pick and Allen Lazard — a 2023 Broncos target — for Jeudy, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini and Zack Rosenblatt, only to see Johnson nix any potential deal. Jeudy going into his age-25 season intrigued the Jets, who aimed to avoid aging players in this year’s free agency (subscription required). That did not end up happening, as Tyron Smith and Mike Williams joined trade pickup Morgan Moses in joining the Jets in March.

It would have been interesting if the Broncos were willing to acquire Lazard, who was still owed a fully guaranteed base salary ($10MM) this year. Lazard underwhelmed after receiving $22MM guaranteed at signing in 2023. Denver did end up giving Josh Reynolds a two-year, $9MM deal; Lazard would have been costlier. Jeudy, who would have joined Garrett Wilson and potentially affected the Jets’ interest in Adams, has since signed a Browns extension.

Weeks later, Douglas signed off on acquiring Reddick despite warnings from his camp the Jets should not trade for the talented edge rusher unless they wanted to extend him. As it turns out, Douglas appeared more open to an extension than he initially let on. Reddick had expressed frustration with the Jets, believing they would revisit extension talks. Douglas may well have been onboard here, per The Athletic, which attributes the resistance to extending the then-29-year-old EDGE to Johnson. Even as Johnson helped bring Reddick into the fold in October, he certainly looks to have prevented his then-GM from extending him this offseason.

Before the Jets zeroed in on Reddick, they let Bryce Huff walk. Huff joined the Eagles on a three-year, $51MM deal, but if Douglas had his way, the team may have made a stronger effort to re-sign the team’s 2023 sack leader. Johnson is believed to have blocked his GM from making an extension offer to Huff, whom many teams pursued once the Jets let him hit the market. We heard in early February no offer had come. This came months after Johnson is believed to have restricted his GM from making a stronger effort to replace Aaron Rodgers once the QB suffered an Achilles tear.

Johnson also drove an effort to have safety Tony Adams benched in Week 11, with Russini and Rosenblatt reinforcing the notion the owner has placed too much stock in social media assessments of his team. Rumblings recently pointed to Johnson listening to too many non-football staffers in making decisions. This offseason also featured multiple high-ranking Jets football ops staffers dismissed, with assistant GM Rex Hogan being fired and then player personnel director Chad Alexander becoming the Chargers’ assistant GM. Johnson prevented Douglas from replacing either staffer, Russini and Rosenblatt add. (For what it’s worth, some in the organization believed Hogan had been responsible for many leaks; though, a flood of leaks have come out in the months since.) The owner’s actions led Douglas to tell some remaining Jets staffers Johnson “should just fire me now.”

Also believed to have pushed for the Jets to bench Rodgers after the team’s Week 4 loss to the Broncos — to the point one coach, per The Athletic, asked if the owner was serious — Johnson will have a lot to answer for after this wildly disappointing Jets season.

The Jets are expected to part with Rodgers, whom coaches feared would be embarrassed had Johnson gotten his way with the benching request. After all, Johnson played a key role in Rodgers agreeing to put off retirement and agree to a Jets trade last year. Sitting him for Tyrod Taylor so early in his Achilles comeback would have been one of the more shocking developments in recent NFL history.

This increased meddling will not make it easier for the owner to find quality GM and HC options in 2025, but even as the former ambassador to the United Kingdom is in the mix to reclaim that post under the second Donald Trump administration (a move that would again leave Christopher Johnson as acting owner), Woody Johnson is set to lead the Jets’ searches to replace Saleh and Douglas.

Haason Reddick Unlikely To Re-Sign With Jets

November 17th, 2024 at 10:11pm CST by Rory Parks

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.

AFC East Notes: Reddick, Jets, Maye, Bills

October 30th, 2024 at 12:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Haason Reddick made his Jets debut last week, bringing an end to one of the longest holdouts in many years. Reddick pushed for a multiyear deal, believing 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 their trade pickup began work in their defense. This led to a months-long standoff, being one of the contributing factors to the Jets’ 2-6 record. Reddick, who returned to the Jets after receiving an incentive-laden boost, played 26 defensive snaps as a backup in Week 8.

The Jets had made Reddick an offer to sweeten his 2024 compensation before the season started, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport noting the team’s proposal included $20MM for this year. The revised offer would have allowed the veteran edge rusher to recoup the fines he lost during training camp, though it is not known if this was a true raise from the $14.25MM salary he was due to make or another incentive package. Reddick, 30, turned that money down and continued to seek a trade. He has since regrouped with the Jets and will aim to secure solid terms as a 2025 free agent, but this holdout probably did not help him on that front.

Here is the latest from the AFC East:

  • The Jets have until Tuesday to trade Mike Williams, and all signs are pointing to a separation. No move is expected to occur until after the Jets’ Thursday-night Texans matchup, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes. Gang Green has been linked to shopping Williams since even before the Davante Adams trade, and the effort began in earnest after the team acquired the ex-Aaron Rodgers Green Bay target. Williams, 30, has generated interest from the Steelers, Saints and Chargers and likely among other teams as well. The Jets falling to 2-7 would make them surefire sellers, but for now, they are waiting to see the market crystallize and holding onto the trade chip.
  • Before Jets interim HC Jeff Ulbrich stripped Nathaniel Hackett of play-calling duties, Robert Saleh had informed the second-generation Jets OC he would be demoted. Prior to the since-fired HC’s directive, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes Hackett and Todd Downing had split game-planning responsibilities. They are continuing to do so, though it is now Downing who has final say on what goes in the game plan and what does not. The Jets are 0-3 with Downing calling plays, however, and remain in the same place they were (25th) in terms of scoring offense at the time Hackett was demoted.
  • As could be expected, the Jets are almost certain to pass on Ulbrich as the full-time HC if the team misses the playoffs, The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt offers. Considering Ulbrich is 0-3 in the interim role, it would take a dramatic turnaround to convince the organization to not go with an outside hire — as every team but the Raiders has since 2017 — rather than remove their current leader’s interim tag.
  • David Edwards has bounced back from a concussion-marred 2022 and a 2023 season spent as a Bills backup. Stepping in as Buffalo’s starting left guard this season, as the team moved Connor McGovern to center after cutting Mitch Morse, Edwards has played well. The former Super Bowl LVI starter has outperformed McGovern at the LG spot, per The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia, who adds Edwards could be moving toward an extension if he keeps this up. Pro Football Focus ranks Edwards just 44th among guards, but the 27-year-old blocker has started every game — after being a 17-game backup in 2023 — and has provided value on a two-year, $6MM deal.
  • Drake Maye is indeed in concussion protocol. Jerod Mayo confirmed that status Wednesday, making the No. 3 overall pick iffy for the Patriots‘ Sunday matchup against the Titans. A hit to the back of Maye’s head during a first-quarter scramble led Jacoby Brissett back into action in Week 8.

Jets Activate Haason Reddick; Latest On DE’s 2024 Earning Potential

October 26th, 2024 at 11:15pm CST by Adam La Rose

Haason Reddick remained on the Jets’ reserve/did not report list until his contract holdout came to an end. Now that he is officially back in the fold, he has been brought onto the active roster in time for Week 8.

In a corresponding move, fellow edge rusher Takk McKinley was released. McKinley appeared in all seven games for the Jets this season, handling a 28% snap share. Reddick will be counted on to be on the field much more than that, just as he will be expected to outproduce McKinley’s 0.5 sacks for the year. Reddick’s playing time and production will be key in determining his overall 2024 earnings.

In a detailed breakdown of Reddick’s revised Jets accord, CBS Sports’ Joel Corry notes the two-time Pro Bowler now has $5.34MM available in incentives in the form of an option bonus escalator. Void years remain on the pact (now running from 2025-28), and they will spread out the cap hits generated by the bonus. If Reddick remains healthy and productive for the remainder of the season, he will begin earning back a portion of the money he lost through fines and forfeited salary.

The 29-year-old will see just over $791K if he reaches the 40% snap threshold for the campaign, something which will be much more plausible than the 67.5% mark which would be needed for the conditional third-round pick the Jets sent the Eagles to become a second-round selection. In terms of pass-rush production, Reddick will collect $500K for eight sacks along with another $500K for a ninth and 10th in that department. As well, $500K is available for a Pro Bowl nod, something which should also not be expected given the fact he was absent for the first seven weeks of the campaign.

Should the Jets reach the Super Bowl, Reddick will earn an additional $2MM (provided he plays in the game). New York currently sits at 2-5 on the year, so a postseason berth – let along a deep playoff run – is far from a certainty. In all, as Corry notes, an earnings total of just over $14MM is possible – a figure not much lower than than $14.5MM Reddick was originally due in base salary. However, he adds that a realistic scenario (given the unlikely nature of several of his incentive thresholds) is only $9.99MM in compensation, an illustration of how costly this holdout saga could prove to be.

Reddick’s total financial penalties have yet to be fully determined due an NFLPA grievance filed over the preseason fines he accumulated this summer. Remaining away from the Jets resulted in $2.38MM in fines; the team may be willing to waive those, but it remains to be seen if that will be possible as the league and union discuss the matter. Reddick accrued $2.05MM in training camp fines (which, since he is not on a rookie pact, cannot be rescinded) in addition to, most notably, $5.54MM in lost game checks during the regular season.

Reddick remains on course for free agency, although a strong showing over the coming weeks could open the door to new agent Drew Rosenhaus and the Jets agreeing to a deal which would keep him in place for 2025. In any event, his value (along with overall earning potential) will be dictated by his playing time and production during the rest of the season.

Haason Reddick, Jets Agree To Adjusted Contract; Reddick To Report To Team

October 26th, 2024 at 8:40am CST by Rory Parks

SATURDAY, 8:40am: Reddick has officially signed his adjusted one-year deal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The veteran pass rusher is expected to make his Jets debut tomorrow against the Patriots.

SUNDAY, 9:59pm: Cimini clarifies that Reddick is not guaranteed to receoup the money he lost in fines, as initial reports suggested. Instead, the incentives referenced in the prior reports will give Reddick the chance to earn that money back.

7:29am: Haason Reddick‘s holdout is over. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report, Reddick and the Jets have agreed to an adjusted contract, and the two-time Pro Bowler will report to the team tomorrow morning.

The new deal is not an extension; for the time being, Reddick is still out of contract at season’s end. However, according to Schefter, New York has agreed to “waive” over $12MM of fines that Reddick accumulated as a result of the holdout in order to convince the edge defender to report.

[RELATED: NFLPA Files Grievance Over Reddick’s Preseason Fines]

Of course, as Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post points out and as we have observed previously, the fines cannot technically be waived, since Reddick is not attached to a rookie contract. As such, it could be that the new agreement simply includes some mechanism — Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com suggests an increase in base pay — to cover the fines. Indeed, we heard just last week that, after the regular season got underway, the Jets had offered Reddick a reworked one-year deal that would have allowed him to recoup all of his fines while giving him the chance to earn more than the $14.25MM he was originally scheduled to make in 2024.

Despite optimism that the previous proposal would be enough to bring Reddick into the fold, the 30-year-old sack artist rejected it and continued his push for a multiyear accord. That decision, along with his decision to stage the holdout in the first place, was against the advice of his former agency, CAA, who dropped Reddick as a client earlier this month. Reddick subsequently hired Drew Rosenhaus and Ryan Matha to help facilitate a resolution.

Although the Rosenhaus/Matha hiring led to renewed hope that player and team could achieve detente, the Jets remained adamant that they would not entertain a multiyear pact, and they also granted Reddick permission to seek a trade. Owner Woody Johnson, though, continued to express his desire to have Reddick play for Gang Green, and Schefter notes that Johnson was “very involved” in bringing this matter to a close. Peter Schrager of FOX Sports elaborates on that point, reporting that Rosenhaus flew in for the Jets’ contest against the Bills last week and had a lengthy conversation with Johnson prior to the game. Those conversations continued with GM Joe Douglas in the following days.

Now that Reddick — who was acquired via trade with Philadelphia this offseason — has finally agreed to join his new teammates, perhaps Douglas & Co. will be more amenable to an extension, with Rosenhaus himself stating this morning that he will continue to work towards that goal. As it stands, Reddick has not received any new money and has simply agreed to play out the remainder of the season for the $9.5MM that he was already due to earn on his Eagles-constructed deal (via ESPN’s Rich Cimini). As noted above, Reddick was due to make $14.25MM in 2024, but his holdout has led to lost game checks, and while the Jets are prepared to cover the fines in some way, they are apparently not reimbursing him for the lost salary upfront; as Albert Breer of SI.com reports, Reddick can recover that money (and then some) via sack-based incentives, playing time, honors, and team-based incentives.

The Jets may be 2-4, but they recently acquired WR Davante Adams via trade and clearly believe they can make a postseason run. New York’s defense has generally played up to expectations, as that unit presently ranks second in yards per game and seventh in points per game. The team’s 20 sacks are the third-highest total in the league, and Reddick — who has posted double-digit sacks totals in four consecutive years — can certainly help maintain that production. His presence will help to offset the loss of third-year pro Jermaine Johnson, who sustained a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 2.

According to Cimini, Reddick could suit up for New York’s bout with the Patriots next week, although that will naturally depend on his conditioning. More clarity on that front will emerge when Reddick starts to practice.

As Schefter notes, Reddick is the first player in a decade to hold out beyond Week 1 of the regular season and then receive an adjusted contract.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/21/24

October 21st, 2024 at 7:17pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Green Bay Packers

  • Activated off IR: DL Jonathan Ford
  • Released: LS Matt Orzech

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

New York Jets

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, today’s moves were purely procedural. After returning to practice earlier this month, Jonathan Ford was nearing the end of his activation window. To avoid the defensive lineman landing on season-ending injured reserve, the Packers activated the former seventh-round pick to the active roster. That meant the Packers needed to carve out a spot, and long snapper Matt Orzech was the temporary casualty. However, Silverstein says Orzech will land back on the roster later this week following more roster machinations.

Meanwhile, the Giants added Armon Watts to the active roster following the lineman’s stint on the team’s practice squad. It sounds like rival teams may have forced the Giants hand. As ESPN’s Jordan Raanan notes, other teams expressed interest in the former Bears starter, forcing the Giants to secure Watts services now (vs. continuing to stash him on the taxi squad).

Elsewhere in New York, Haason Reddick was officially activated from the Did Not Report list today. Per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston, the Jets now have a two-game roster exemption to officially add the pass-rusher to the 53-man roster.

NFLPA Files Grievance Over Haason Reddick’s Preseason Jets Fines

October 20th, 2024 at 4:11pm CST by Adam La Rose

Haason Reddick‘s Jets holdout has come to an end, with team and player agreeing to a deal. It remains to be seen at this point how the financial components of the revised pact will shake out vis-à-vis the multitude of penalties Reddick accumulated before today’s news.

One point of contention is the money Reddick lost during the preseason. His decision to avoid reporting to the Jets allowed the team to fine him the value of one regular season game check (just under $792K) for each exhibition game missed. As a result, $2.38MM in fines were accumulated, although it is unsettled with respect to if it will be paid out.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports the NFLPA had already filed a grievance over the preseason fines in question prior to today’s Reddick news. The union’s argument is that Reddick signed his contract to join the Eagles before eventually being traded to the Jets, differentiating his situation from holdouts affecting a player’s original contracted team. The same could be argued as it pertains to the $2MM in fines Reddick racked up by remaining absent from training camp, although as Florio notes those penalties are not currently at issue.

A separate Florio piece adds that the Jets are prepared to waive the fines for Reddick’s preseason absence if the NFL and NFLPA can reach an agreement regarding whether or not it is possible for that to take place. Of course, the missed game checks from his regular season absences comprise a much larger penalty, and it will be interesting to see how exactly the revised accord between team and player works out. Once the full details of the pact are known, further clarity will arise based on what Reddick’s earning potential for 2024 is as he prepares to report to the team. Crucially, the two-time Pro Bowler will remain on track for free agency regardless of what happens regarding his Jets penalties.

Jets Rumors: 2024 Season, Reddick, Williams

October 18th, 2024 at 10:04pm CST by Ely Allen

At 2-4, this is not where the Jets thought they would be at this point of the 2024 NFL season. With so many glaring issues on the team that point to that record, one isn’t wrong to wonder why New York would make the big move to trade for wide receiver Davante Adams that they made this week. According to Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports, the answer is pretty simple.

It’s all or nothing for many important figures in the Jets organization this season. The team has already parted ways with former head coach Robert Saleh, and if things don’t improve, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich and general manager Joe Douglas won’t be far behind him. To date, the Jets are 29-60 with Douglas as GM and have yet to make the playoffs with him at the helm. Add in the fact that quarterback Aaron Rodgers may not want to be playing next year at 42 years old, and there’s a chance New York will be home to a new head coach, GM, and quarterback in 2025.

All of this is on the table with an unsuccessful 2024 campaign, so everyone in New York is all-in on whatever it takes to win this season. When Saleh’s head was the first to roll, it became clear that drastic changes were needed in order for the rest of the crew to retain their jobs. If that means kowtowing to Rodgers and trading for his favorite receiver from their time in Green Bay, it appears that that’s what will happen. As evidence, a serious offer for Adams reportedly didn’t even come until after Saleh was let go, per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

Here are a few other rumors from the Jets in recent days:

  • The Jets have been actively shopping pass rusher Haason Reddick after trading for him this offseason. They may be a bit selective on where he goes, though. Breer points out that, should New York trade Reddick to an NFC team, the pick conditional pick that they sent to the Eagles for him goes from a third-round pick to a second-rounder. As much as they’d like to wash their hands of the situation, the pick difference is severe enough that they’re likely being picky about how they deal Reddick.
  • Another potential trade piece after the acquisition of Adams, it appears that wide receiver Mike Williams will play this weekend against the Steelers, per Connor Hughes of SportsNet New York. Ulbrich made the announcement today after Williams was a full participant at practice.

Lions Check In On Jets’ Haason Reddick

October 16th, 2024 at 9:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

Aidan Hutchinson‘s gruesome injury gives the Lions a clear need as they continue to move toward Super Bowl contention. Nearly three weeks remain until the trade deadline, and Detroit has now touched base with the top edge rusher available.

The Lions have checked in with Haason Reddick‘s camp, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. While this could qualify as due diligence, the Lions make sense as a Reddick landing spot. The Jets gave the holdout edge rusher permission to seek a trade, doing so shortly after the sides had talked about a solution that brings him to New York.

At odds with the Jets since shortly after his arrival in late March, Reddick has passed on six game checks. The standout edge player is attached to a $14.5MM base salary, though the prorated amount is now just more than $9MM. The Lions held more than $28MM in cap space before their Alim McNeill extension; that number placed them in fourth in the NFL.

The Jets probably are not too keen on doing Reddick any favors by picking up some of his salary to facilitate a trade, but at this point, the team appears willing to see what can be had for the disgruntled edge performer. Reddick has sought a multiyear deal; the Jets have not budged and do not plan to. For an extended period, the Jets were not willing to discuss trading Reddick. This would bring a strange end to a chapter that has not reflected well on the team, but the earlier the Jets move on, the better their compensation stands to be. Reddick’s Eagles-constructed contract runs through season’s end, and the 30-year-old defender is running the risk of minimizing his 2025 free agent market by staying off the field.

Reddick’s 50.5 sacks from 2020-23 rank fourth in the NFL. The Lions have run into issues in terms of Hutchinson complementary players for most of the star defender’s tenure. Now that the league’s 2024 sack leader is gone (almost definitely for the season), it stands to reason Detroit will need more help.

“Look, we’re open to anything. Brad’s working through it,” Dan Campbell said of GM Brad Holmes. “We are not going to be in a hurry. Brad would tell you — man, he’s doing his homework. The crew is doing their homework. They’re looking at everything. But we’re not just going to make a move to make it. It’s got to be right. It’s got to be the right guy and the pieces have to fall in place.”

The Lions signed Marcus Davenport to a one-year, $6.5MM deal and still roster the likes of Josh Paschal and James Houston. Of that trio, only Davenport has a sack. The oft-injured former first-rounder has tallied a half-sack and is on IR, where he spent most of his Vikings tenure. Hutchinson’s 7.5 lead the Lions by five, highlighting the need — despite Campbell’s comments conveying patience.

Reddick would check this box quickly, though the Lions authorizing another extension — for a player who has not played since an Eagles wild-card loss — would be unexpected. The Jets offered Reddick multiple deals that sweetened his 2024 salary, but in viewing the team has having reneged on a pledge to conduct true extension talks, the D-end stayed away from the team for months.

The Lions have already paid Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, David Montgomery and McNeill this year. Would they be willing to fit in a Reddick payment if it meant a better chance at the first Super Bowl berth in team history?

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