Philadelphia Eagles Trade Haason Reddick to New York Jets; What it Means
By John McMullen
PHILADELPHIA - After two productive seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles dealt Pro Bowl edge rusher Haason Reddick to the New York Jets for a 2026 conditional third-round pick, according to a league source.
Reddick, a South Jersey native who attended Temple, amassed 27 sacks in 34 regular season games for the Eagles, 16 in 2022 and 11 last season. He’s one of only two NFL players (Cleveland superstar Myles Garrett is the other) to amass at least 10 sacks in four consecutive seasons dating back to his 12.5 with Arizona in 2020 and 11 with Carolina in 2021 before he signed a three-year $45 million deal with the Eagles before the 2022 campaign.
Reddick’s first year with the Eagles was one of the best defensive performances in franchise history, one in which he was named second-team All-Pro after piling up 19.5 total sacks through the Super Bowl LVII loss to Kansas City and was fourth in NFL Defensive Player of the Year balloting. He single-handily wrecked the 2023 NFC Championship Game by knocking San Francisco quarterbacks Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson out for large parts of what was a 31-7 Eagles' blowout win.
That 2022-23 performance was also the crux of Reddick’s impasse with the Eagles, a personal belief that he far outperformed his contract.
The talk around the league was that Reddick, who will turn 30 in September, was looking for an adjusted deal worth well north of $20M per season, and the Eagles permitted he and his agent Tory Dandy permission to seek a trade.
That was a calculated gamble by GM Howie Roseman to allow Reddick to better assess his value around the league and perhaps let others be the “bad guys.” The stalemate continued, however, and Philadelphia ultimately shifted directions by signing emerging edge rusher Bryce Huff, who turns 26 next month, to a three-year deal with an AAV of $17M, ironically from the Jets.
The Eagles worked out a restructured 2024 contract with Josh Sweat, who was also permitted to seek a trade, for $10M guaranteed and up to $13M. The idea of three edge rushers making eight figures seemed excessive and turned out to be correct with Reddick the odd man out.
For now, though, Reddick is set to play under the final year of his existing contract with the Jets and no new deal is done. However, most feel New York will work something out with Reddick.
The Eagles had pushed back a $1M bonus due Reddick to April 1 and deadlines tend to spur action.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that if Reddick needs to play 67.5 percent of the Jets’ defensive snaps next season and reach double figures in sacks for the 2026 draft pick to tuen into a second-round selection.
The latter number is more likely than the former as long as Reddick stays healthy. All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Willaims was the only member on the Jets defensive front last season to surpass the 67.5 percent figure at 68.5. The top edge player for the NYJ, Jermaine Johnson, was under the figure at 65.8 percent.
One former NFL GM jokingly told Eagles Today that Roseman asks for a second-round pick with everyone and he may ultimately get it in the future with Reddick.
Most organizations believe future picks are less valuable. Others believe it’s a market inefficiency to be taken advantage of and Roseman is in the latter category because his job security allows him to display the patience few other GMs can afford to.
Moving forward the Eagles' edge rushing situation is Huff, Sweat, second-year man Nolan Smith, who Roseman admitted needs to be on the field more, veteran Brandon Graham, who will be returning for his 15th and final season, and free agent Zack Baun, who the Eagles believe has some Andrew Van Ginkel-like qualities, a player that excelled with new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in Miami.
Moving Reddick, arguably the team's top defender again last season, seems like a lateral move at best for a team like the Eagles who perceive themselves as a contender but Reddick did struggle as a quarter-flat defender with Sean Desai and Matt Patricia calling defensive plays last season.
Fangio is the architect of the system Desai installed for the Eagles last season and the new defensive chief generally wants his SAM LBs to drop into coverage more often so shifting directions away from Reddick may not be as illogical as some believe it looks on the surface.