The New York Jets’ patience with star pass-rusher Haason Reddick may be nearing its expiration date.
The Jets acquired Reddick in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles back on March 29 with much anticipation that he’d be the missing piece that would take their already elite defense over the top in 2024. It has been nearly six months since the Jets made the marquee acquisition, and Reddick remains firm in his holdout from the team as he pursues a contract extension worth roughly $25 million a year, respective to the salaries that his top-shelf contemporaries make at the position.
Now that the Jets are headed into Week 2 of the 2024 campaign on Sunday with a loss under their belt in their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, their front office may get antsy about dealing him in return for a contributor who can do just that for them as soon as possible.
Jets may not have a choice but to trade star pass-rusher Haason Reddick this season
According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler, an anonymous executive from the NFC shed some light on what the Jets franchise is facing with their elite pass-rusher at the present, and how their hands could be forced to move off of him as a means of damage control in the midst of a season carrying massive Super Bowl expectations for them (h/t Fox Sports):
“It would be hard for them to pay him at this point, and he clearly doesn’t want to be there,” the unnamed NFC executive said. Regarding them potentially trading Reddick, that executive reportedly said that he’s “not sure they have a choice.”
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Do the Jets desperately need to trade Reddick now?
It is too early to tell just how much of a damning impact Reddick’s absence has had on New York’s defense. Their first taste of action on the year saw them get defeated by a Niners team that hung 32 points on them in Week 1. San Francisco produced 401 total yards and most of that damage came from their ground game, which gained 180 rushing yards on the affair.
The 49ers are the gold standard in the NFC, and it was Week 1, so a larger sample size will need to be extrapolated in order to determine just how pressing New York’s need to deal the 29-year-old pass rusher will be. Nonetheless, his 11 sacks from 2023 are needed to compensate for the 10 that defensive end Bryce Huff took with him after he left the Jets this offseason.
Monetarily, the Jets have $18.5 million in cap space remaining for the 2024 campaign, which is about $7 million less than what the Temple University product is gunning for, but do have $88.6 million available for next year. It appears that both parties are at an impasse that cannot be resolved. Thus, if a team arises that will take Reddick off of their hands, the Jets may pull the plug on the standout pass-rusher they had high hopes for this year.
