“The Jets misread this” – Salary cap expert pins blame on franchise for messy Haason Reddick situation

Haason Reddick has been one of the most consistently dominant pass rushers in the NFL over the past four years. He has totaled 50.5 sacks during that time, including at least 11 sacks in each of the past four seasons. He has also done so with three different teams during his career so far.

After being traded to the New York Jets ahead of the 2024 NFL season, Reddick is now with his fourth team. The issue is that he has yet to show up to training camp as he seeks a new contract enxtension. According to Jason Fitzgerald on the Ross Tucker Podcast, the Jets have apparently mishandled his situation.

Fitzgerald explained:

"I think they really thought that this was going to be like, 'Hey look, you're coming here, you're playing with Aaron Rodgers this year. We're going to be getting a lot of attention in prime time this season. You're going to get a good opportunity next year somewhere else.' He's had all those opportunities with Philadelphia already.

"It's not like he's going from a really bad football team to a team that's expected to compete. He's going from a situation that was competing before, to another one where they might compete."

He added:

"I think the Jets misread this. I think they thought he was just going to be happy with a change of scenery and that's not what the issue was with him at all."

In two years with the Philadelphia Eagles, Haason Reddick made it to the playoffs twice and also made a Super Bowl appearance. This is likely why Fitzgerald believes that he wasn't necessarily priortizing a contender in his request to be traded, but rather a new contract that the Eagles were apparently unwilling to give him.

Reddick is entering the final year of his current deal, where he is scheduled to make $15 million. The Jets allegedly planned to use him as a one-year rental, but the edge rusher apparently doesn't see it that way.

Where does Haason Reddick rank among highest-paid NFL edge rushers?

Haason Reddick

At this point ahead of the 2024 NFL season, Haason Reddick ranks just 19th among edge rushers in AAV on their contracts. He is also on the final year of his deal, and like most star players, he would apparently prefer to earn an extension now instead of running the risk of playing out his final season.

It's unclear how much Reddick is looking for in a new deal, but Josh Allen and Brian Burns recently signed contracts worth more than $28 million in AAV. While Reddick is older than both of them, he has totaled more sacks than each of them over the past four years. Their contracts could potentially serve as a reference point for his ongoing contract negotiations.