The Jets open the preseason this weekend against the Washington Commanders and several players will not be participating in the game, including Aaron Rodgers, Mike Williams and Tyron Smith. But those are the coach’s decisions. One player won’t be playing because he has chosen not to: Haason Reddick.
Reddick continues his holdout of Jets training came, despite the fact the fines keep piling up the more time he stays away. Reddick appears to be perfectly content to rack up fines and sit out the year after slyly positioning himself to attempt to hold the Jets ransom.
Reddick wants a new deal, and he isn’t willing to play until he gets one (at least at this point). As of now, the Jets don’t appear to be willing to give Reddick the $25 million per year contract he is looking for and Reddick is refusing to play for the $14.25 million left on his current contract, even if the Jets made it mostly guaranteed, something Joe Douglas reportedly already offered.
But the Jets need to be smart with how they negotiate with Reddick. Reports around his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, were the Reddick stopped playing within the defensive system last season and began to chase sacks.
“Sack chasing” sounds like a harmless thing. I mean, isn’t sacking the quarterback a good thing? But getting sacks at the expense of the defensive scheme is a problem. If Reddick chases a sack, it may leave other defensive players hanging out to dry in other areas, stopping the run, for example.
With that in mind, if Jets GM Joe Douglas believes the best way to solve the Reddick holdout is to give him an incentive-rich contract emphasizing sacks, Reddick is going to forego the defensive game plan in order to get paid.
AtoZ Sport’s Philadelphia Eagles beat writer Kelsey Kramer doesn’t believe the sack incentive hurt the Eagles defense too much and it might just be the way to go. Kramer says, “On the flip side, incentives might be the route to take. Yes, there was a report that Reddick was “sack chasing” last fall to get that big contract, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that he was one of the most consistent players on the Eagles defense. And he had been over the last two years. If we saw him constantly blowing coverage or ditching his assignment I could see that being a problem, but there were no consistent clear signs of him doing that.”
While I don’t see anything wrong with a player focused on the stats that get them paid, I do have a problem when those stats come at the expense of the team. The New England Patriots and Bill Belichick built a dynasty on the backs of Tom Brady and the notion of “do your job”.
I would hope Reddick does his and doesn’t ignore his assignment for the sake of an incentive in his contract, but at this point, I would be nervous to give him the opportunity.
