It’s been a busy week for the New York Jets. Just days after acquiring star WR Davante Adams they now have another new addition to the roster as they end a months-long standoff with edge rusher Haason Reddick, agreeing to a modified contract Sunday morning.
Haason Reddick’s new contract details:
Reddick was initially slated to make $14.25 million this season, the final year of his deal. He was apparently seeking a new multi-year contract that would pay him upwards of $25 million per year while holding out, getting dropped by his agent, and racking up over $12 million dollars in fines.
Instead, as per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, Reddick will receive his pro-rated salary for the rest of the season which tallies about $9 million, while also receiving incentives that will allow him to recoup the $12 million in non-waivable fines he’s accumulated during his hold out. The two sides will now continue to negotiate a long-term extension to keep Reddick in green and white beyond 2024.
Reddick gives the Jets’ defensive line a much-needed boost
The Jets’ defensive line, particularly the edge group, was in dire straits after losing star edge rusher Jermaine Johnson for the year with a torn Achilles. With Reddick holding out, and the depth on the edge being thinned out by trading John Franklin-Myers in the offseason, the injury left the team relying on former fourth-round pick Micheal Clemons, journeyman Takk McKinley, and undrafted free agents Braiden McGregor and Eric Watts alongside 2023 first-round pick Will McDonald.
McDonald has stepped up in a significantly larger role, currently tied for second in the league in sacks with 7.0. Outside of him, however, the remaining edge defenders have left a lot to be desired. Clemons has gotten the bulk of the starts alongside McDonald, but has posted just 2.5 sacks and struggled against the run as evidenced by his 43.1 run defense grade, per Pro Football Focus. McKinnley, McGregor, and Watts have combined for 0.5 sacks combined, and have also regularly been washed out along the edge in run defense.
Reddick returning gives them another premium sack artist. Over the past four seasons, he’s produced 11 sacks or more each year, with a high of 16.0 sacks coming in 2022. While Reddick is on the smaller side, weighing in at 240 pounds, he’s historically been a willing run defender who can make plays at an average rate.
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Uncertainty surrounds the rotation following Reddick’s addition
The Jets under former head coach Robert Saleh employed heavy defensive line rotations that were among the most frequent in the league. Last season, no edge rusher played more than Jermaine Johnson who garnered just 66% of the snaps. Comparatively, Reddick played 74% of defensive snaps last season with Philadelphia. If interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich employs a similar approach with Reddick now in the fold, you can still expect to see McKinley, McGregor, and Watts all get some run.
Saleh also favored an alignment on the edge that featured a speed rusher on one side and a larger, power rusher on the other. This alignment ideally balanced the pass and run defense, while the power rusher was supposed to bring pressure to clean up against the pass via the bull rush. This worked well with the versatile John Franklin-Myers filling the role the last few seasons, however, it has been exploited big time as Micheal Clemons has struggled to step into that role.
The question is, will Ulbrich continue to favor that base deployment with Reddick back? If so, his return would cut into Will McDonald’s snaps instead of Clemons’ which would negate a lot of the boost that Reddick provides.
We won’t know for sure for a few weeks. After being away from the team and an NFL training facility for so long, Reddick will need time to get into football shape. He’ll likely begin as the third edge in the rotation, perhaps nominally starting, in Week 8 as he works himself back.
Once he is 100% ready to go, we’ll see if the Jets prioritize diversity along the edge, or rather if they’re committed to playing the most talented players. The smart play would be to maximize the time the most talented players are on the field, regardless of specialty, but the interim regime’s philosophy remains to be seen.
