The New York Jets may have to face the reality of having to trade their marquee offseason acquisition Haason Reddick at some point in 2024.
The Jets made the push to stack their already elite defense by trading for the Pro Bowl linebacker in the winter of 2024. Unfortunately for them, their timing was not ideal, with Reddick approaching the final year of his three-year, $45 million deal.
As a result, he’s held out of all on-field offseason activities as well as preseason action, culminating in him requesting a trade out of New York. As much as the news is a crushing blow to the franchise with less than a month before their 2024 NFL season opener, one analyst sees a silver lining that could take shape in the sky as a result of the Temple University product’s demand.
Boomer Esiason calls for Haason Reddick/DaVante Adams trade
Former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason recently flirted with the thought of the Jets dealing Reddick to the Las Vegas Raiders for superstar wide receiver DaVante Adams when speaking on WFAN on Tuesday (h/t Kristian Dyer of Yahoo Sports).
Dyer synthesized the retired quarterback’s hypothetical scenario on Wednesday:
“Esiason on WFAN on Tuesday offered a possible solution when he speculated on the Jets trading Reddick for Adams,” Dyer wrote.
“Esiason said he thinks the solution could be the Jets making a move to jettison Reddick and bring in the All-Pro Adams to bolster the offense.”
Adams could make the Jets offense unstoppable, but at what expense?
If the Jets were able to somehow trade Reddick for Adams, they’d form an unstoppable offense. However, it would cost them the chance to field an unstoppable defense. Reddick’s 50.5 sacks over the last four seasons have cemented him as an elite edge rusher, with only three other defensive linemen exceeding that total in the same time frame. In the same breath, Adams has finished in the top five in receiving yards in three of the last four years.
It just so happens that the Jets are loaded in the trenches and on the outside. The swap would make the Jets’ offense, which on paper appears like they can finish as a top 10 unit in the NFL next time out, arguably the best in football while retaining Reddick would keep their defense atop the league’s landscape.
Adams has three years left on his five-year, $140 million contract. His $28 million average annual salary exceeds Reddick’s reported desired amount by $3 million.
Nevertheless, the Jets could find it more advantageous to have a player who has about as much camaraderie with Jets superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers as any player in the NFL and has professed his desire to play in New York over any other franchise save Las Vegas.
It remains to be seen if Reddick increases the pressure he has already put on the franchise to deal him as Week 1 of the upcoming campaign approaches and if Adams gets off to a rocky start to the 2024 campaign with the Raiders, should both storylines coincide.