Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
(Florham Park, NJ) – For Haason Reddick, it’s still a green jersey – granted a different shade. A native of New Jersey, he’s back home – as a member of the New York Jets. Reddick says he was actually in New York City on Friday when he learned he’d been traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the New York Jets.
Reddick describes it as “a new beginning, a new chapter for me.” After being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals out of Temple University, Reddick returned to his old college stomping grounds as a member of the Eagles prior to the 2022-2023 season. He helped lead the birds to the Super Bowl, where they ultimately fell short against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I don’t think anybody is ready for what’s about to happen,” Reddick predicted as to his time with the Jets. “It’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be entertaining. It should’ve already been that way when you look at the defense.”
One of the league’s top pass rushers, Reddick is still just 29-years-old, and has four straight seasons with at least 11 sacks. Only the Browns’ Myles Garrett has matched that mark among active NFL players. “I know the juice I’m going to bring. Hopefully it rubs off on the guys,” Reddick said. “(And) hopefully their energy does the same for me. I looked at the roster — that was one of the first things that I did when I saw the trade — and I can pretty much guarantee it’s going to be some great ball being played.”
The Jets are sending a conditional-third round draft pick in 2026 to Philadelphia as part of the trade. That may become a 2nd rounder if Reddick stays healthy and plays a certain number of snaps with Gang Green. Reddick feels like he’ll be out on the field more often than not, making an impact:
“I believe I have a lot left in the tank. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here… When I don’t have any more left to give, I’ll retire. Until that point, I’m going to continue to try and play my best ball. As far as the Eagles, it wasn’t about what [I have] left in the tank or anything like that. It’s a business, and sometimes hard decisions have to be made even if you don’t like them.”
It’s a somewhat unique and curious footnote that essentially the Jets and Eagles swapped top pass rushers this offseason. Philadelphia inked former Jets edge rusher Bryce Huff to a contract, then turned around and traded Reddick to New York. As one of the latest members of the Jets’ defense, Reddick likes what he sees:
“The fact that we have a bunch of young dawgs, we’re going to make it all easier for each other. The attack-attack-attack style, I’m all for. I’m all about constantly putting QBs under duress. With the group that we have, we should be able to do that really often.”
Reddick will be paid $14.5 million this coming season in what is the final of a three-year deal he signed with the Eagles. But free agency is not on the front of mind: “All options are open. Right now, I’m just worried about being here, meeting everybody,” Reddick explained.
“Contractual stuff, I’m leaving that up to my agent and (Jets GM) Joe Douglas to figure out. But whatever happens, I’m going to be happy. I’m going to give my all no matter what because that’s just who I am as a person. No matter how it goes, how many years I’m going to be here, I’m going to give the team and the fans everything that I have.”
Plus, Reddick has been watching from down I-95 and likes what the Jets have been putting together. He took notice first and foremost when New York acquired Aaron Rodgers: “As an opposing player at the time, I saw that and I’m like, ‘That could be a problem,’ … This year they bring in Mike Williams, bring in Tyron Smith. What we have the opportunity to do, if we can all come in building that chemistry and get on that same page and become a completely bonded team by the time the season starts, I think we can go really, really far.”
So yet another offseason filled with change – and Super Bowl expectations – will move on with new names and faces. Unless it ends with a Lombardi Trophy and trip down the Canyon of Heroes, Jets fans will say “same old, same old.”
