Jets reportedly expected to explore trading Haason Reddick amid ongoing holdout

New York Jets linebacker Haason Reddick has yet to play a game with the team who traded for him last spring, and has continued his holdout for a contract extension into the regular season. Will Reddick’s stint with the Jets end with him never donning the team’s uniform?

“It would be hard for them to pay him at this point, and he clearly doesn’t want to be there,” an unnamed NFC executive told ESPN about the Jets’ situation with Reddick. Regarding them potentially trading Reddick, that executive reportedly said that he’s “not sure they have a choice.”

New York acquired Reddick, 29, from the Philadelphia Eagles in April for a conditional 2026 third-round draft pick. Reddick is in the final season of a three-year, $45 million deal. The Jets let defensive end Bryce Huff — who logged a career-high 10 sacks last season — walk in free agency to the Eagles, opting for the older Reddick to save salary cap space.

Reddick missed all of training camp while he campaigned for a new deal and eventually requested a trade from the Jets, which was soon flatly and publicly denied by general manager Joe Douglas.

In Reddick’s place, the Jets have former first-round draft picks Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald, though the veteran Reddick who reached the Pro Bowl each of the last two years is seen as the better option.

Reddick, the No. 13 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Temple, has totaled 11-plus sacks in each of the past four seasons. In 2022, he posted a career-high 16 sacks and led the NFL with five forced fumbles. He spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals (2017-20) before a one-year stint with the Carolina Panthers in 2021 before his breakout back in his hometown of Philadelphia.

As for a potential Reddick contract, Brian Burns (New York Giants) and Josh Hines-Allen (Jacksonville Jaguars) — who are each two-time Pro Bowlers with similar production to Reddick — each signed a five-year, $141 million contract with their respective teams this offseason, though they’re both several years younger than the 29-year-old Reddick.

The Jets dropped their Week 1 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers in what was quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ first game back from suffering an Achilles tear in Week 1 of last season. Next up for New York is a road bout against the Tennessee Titans (0-1) on Sunday.

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