Why'd Jets Trade For Reddick With No Plan to Pay Him?

Yes, a contract is a contract. But ...

The New York Jets may have outsmarted themselves here.

Or, if you will, "out-dumbed'' themselves.

They traded a conditional third-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to the Philadelphia Eagles for pass rusher Haason Reddick. It made sense; that's a cheap price to pay for a premium pass-rusher.

But there was an obvious "hook'' to the deal: Reddick wanted out of Philly because they didn't want to pay him. So ... if you trade for him, it means you're willing to pay him.

Doesn't it?

Reddick has now requested a trade from the Jets - if it happens, we'll see this guy on three teams in four months - and while New York fans might logically argue that, as we note, "A contract is a contract'' ...

Reddick was likely under the assumption that he was going to a place that understood the landscape. Right?

Maybe the Jets didn't explain it to him? Maybe they changed their mind and opted to play hard-ball?

In any event, Reddick staged an absence from training camp, and now the pedigreed star - he was a first-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals back in 2017 and since becoming an edge-rusher has been a force - is in limbo.

A Pro Bowler in each of the past two seasons, Reddick is a good enough player for the Jets to salvage something from. But they've put themselves over a barrel here as it's not likely they're going to "win the next trade'' ... given how badly they botched the first one.