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New York Post
Joe Douglas better be right about Jets’ Haason Reddick debacle
By Steve Serby,
3 hours ago
Joe Douglas hemmed and hawed his way through the inevitable Haason Reddick inquisition. This is his story and he’s sticking to it — no regrets making the trade and no regrets making it without getting a signature on the dotted line.
A new Jets season is about to begin, and it is about to begin without Haason Reddick.
Jets general manager Joe Douglas speaks to the media in Florham Park. Bill Kostroun/New York Post
We want you.
But we don’t need you.
For his sake, he better be right.
Douglas has the leverage for now over an elite pass rusher who will turn 30 on Sept. 22 and cannot afford career suicide in desperate pursuit of an extension in the neighborhood of $25 million per season.
But no one will care about his leverage if his team should stub its toe out of the gate without Reddick.
In which case Jets fans would suddenly care that for all his talk about clear and direct communication before and immediately after the trade with the Eagles with Team Reddick, Douglas spent every waking hour since April 1 opting not to communicate with him.
Haason Reddick has yet to report to the Jets after an offseason trade.
Jets fans will not suddenly care about Reddick reneging on any verbal agreement and blowing off OTAs and training camp.
It is why Douglas, who understandably must weigh the fact that some of his other employees will be awaiting paydays, should do himself a favor and pick up the phone and make every attempt to resolve this impasse.
“I think this will all get resolved,” Douglas said.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones under pressure by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Douglas threw his Hail Aaron pass last year and it fell incomplete, and he is fortunate he gets to throw it again this year.
Aaron Rodgers, the 40-year-old future first-ballot Hall of Famer with the rehabilitated 40-year-old Achilles, has the fate of the Jets regime resting on his 40-year-old right arm that looks more like a 30-year-old right arm in the eyes of head coach Robert Saleh.
Douglas finds himself on the win-or-else hot seat because he whiffed twice on Zach Wilson — using the second-overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft on him and then designating him the backup to the 39-year-old future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
“We have a really deep room with a lot of good players. … We still feel great about our D-line depth as a whole.”
“The locker room’s in a phenomenal place. Training camp was unbelievable. The energy, the passion, the togetherness that the team shows has been pretty remarkable.”
“I feel like this has been a remarkable training camp. I feel like this is a great collection of talent and character, as good of a collection of people as I’ve been around in 24 years. I think this is a great group to lock arms and travel with.”
Jets head coach Robert Saleh, left, and general manager Joe Douglas talk during practice. Bill Kostroun/New York Post
“I think Will’s had a superb camp,” Douglas said. “Will’s coming in on a mission. His skills are undeniable. I feel like can bring some elite athleticism off the edge.”
Douglas and Saleh have been a team for four seasons.
“He’s really grown into this amazing leader — he was always an amazing leader when he came in here,” Douglas said. “Just the way he can communicate with people and the energy he brings every day. He’s a great person and a great coach.”
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