The New York Jets appear to have what it takes, at least on paper, to make a deep playoff run and possibly even reach the Super Bowl. But a lot will have to go right for them, and already, in typical Jets fashion, something has come up.
Linebacker Haason Reddick, whom they acquired in an offseason trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, recently asked to be traded, as he has been asking for a contract extension for months. As a result, he has been holding out of training camp.
Is this the first piece of drama in yet another disappointing and frustrating season for the long-suffering franchise? Or is this something they will figure out in order to ensure a satisfactory solution?
The NFL’s hard salary cap is very hard to navigate, and thus there are surely some people who feel the Jets should trade Reddick and not get bogged down by what one could see as his diva behavior. Reportedly, the team has told Reddick that he will not receive an extension until the end of this season.
But Thomas Valentine of Pro Football Focus urged the team to give Reddick a contract extension he would agree to before Week 1.
“The Jets traded a conditional third-round draft selection for Haason Reddick after letting Bryce Huff walk in free agency, making it an easy case of one pass-rusher in, one pass-rusher out,” wrote Valentine. “Reddick has been a consistent sack-getter over the past four years, racking up more than 50 sacks. He tallied 135 pressures in two seasons with the Eagles and earned a 75.2 PFF overall grade in 2023. There’s obvious pedigree there, and the Jets are getting one of the NFL’s premier pass-rushers.
“One-year rentals are common in the NFL, but Reddick is in the prime of his career, and letting him walk at the end of the season after giving up a third-round pick for him would be bad business.”
Haason Reddick would make the Jets’ defense even more dominant
The Jets already had a pretty strong defense the last couple of years, but with Reddick essentially replacing Huff, keeping him needs to be a top priority. He has had at least 11.0 sacks in each of the last four seasons and has made the Pro Bowl in both of the last two years, and at age 29, he should have plenty of juice left in his body.
If Reddick won’t be a member of the team, its pass-rush attack could end up being lackluster. Huff led it with 10.0 sacks in 2023, and coming in second was Jermaine Johnson II with 7.5 sacks.
With quarterback Aaron Rodgers now 40 years of age and coming off a torn Achilles, the Jets likely can’t depend on him to bail them out the way he used to regularly bail out the Green Bay Packers in the past. Therefore, they will need to lean largely on their defense, and being able to do that starts with keeping Reddick in the fold.
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