There's Nothing to Like About Philadelphia Eagles' Trade of Haason Reddick to New York Jets

PHILADELPHIA - There’s nothing to like about the Philadelphia Eagles trading Haason Reddick.

Even though you knew it was coming, it doesn’t make it any easier to absorb. Reddick was the team’s best defensive player. Period.

You could debate who is the second-best, but whoever it is, wasn’t in flagging distance of one of the game’s best pass rushers.

The compensation doesn’t make it any easier to digest. The Eagles have to wait until the 2024 season plays itself out before they know exactly what they’re getting from the New York Jets, and even then, the pick doesn’t come until 2026.

That pick will be a pick in either the second or third round. It’s a second if Reddick plays 67.5 percent of the snaps this year and records at least 10 sacks. He has had just two seasons where he played fewer snaps than that and they came in two of his three years in the league.

He had to go, though.

He wanted $25 million per year. He deserved it. Sure, it’s a lot but that’s the market value. He earned it. He deserved to be paid like one of the game’s elite quarterback chasers, a closer of games was what Nick Sirianni called him.

The Eagles knew that wasn’t going to happen and planned accordingly.

They brought back Josh Sweat on a one-year deal. They signed primo free agent rusher Josh Huff from, ironically, the same Jets team where Reddick will now play. The Eagles think linebacker Zack Baun can rush the pass rusher. They want to see Nolan Smith do more.

There was no room for Reddick, so yes, you could see it coming.

Reddick was only here for two years. It felt like longer. Maybe because he did so much.

In his first season after signing a three-year deal for about $15 million per, he put up 16 regular-season sacks, and added three more of those in three playoffs to give him 19 for the year. He finished fourth in the voting for the NFL’s player of the year award.

Last year, his second with the Eagles, he reached double figures for a fourth straight year, notching 11. A source said that Reddick and some others did not exactly stick to the defensive script late last year, preferring to try to do his own thing, to freelance, to try to get things turned around all by himself.

Maybe he and defensive coordinator Sean Desai didn’t see eye-to-eye on things, then everything went south when Matt Patricia took over. It was a mess and Reddick was trying his best to help clean it up. It never happened.

Still, he was their best defensive player.

Reddick felt like he had found a home. And it was his home. He grew up in the shadow of Lincoln Financial Field across the Delaware River, in Camden, N.J. He crossed back across the river to attend Temple.

How did he feel about being back in Philly after signing here?

“Every time I get to wear that midnight green, every time I get to play in an Eagles uniform is always going to be special for me,” he said right after this past season ended. “Whether we’re winning or we’re losing, a kid from the area, a kid who watched the Eagles will always be special to me. I was born and raised through the NFC East division, so for me, every chance, every opportunity I get to wear the Eagles uniform will always be special to me.”

In that same interview, minutes after the heartbreak of the playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Reddick seemed to understand his days might be numbered in Philly, even though he had one more year left on his contract.

He wanted a new deal coming into last year, but never made an issue of it. He still felt he wanted more money, perhaps even more money than he may have taken had the Eagles renegotiated with him then.

“There’s going to be some changes, regardless,” he said. “We did a lot of winning last year, got to the big one, and there were a lot of changes after that season. Change is gonna come. It’s just something we can’t control and it’s inevitable, especially in this sport, so I’m definitely expecting some changes. It’s the sad truth of it. Some faces, some people won’t be here next year, but that’s the sport… a lot of changes are gonna be made.”

Reddick is now one of those changes.

It’s a shame it came to this, that the Eagles will now play next year without their best defensive player.

Who will be that player now?