Haason Reddick and 6 NY Jets players who robbed the team blind in 2024

The 2024 season will go down as one of the most disappointing in NY Jets history. A team that entered the year with genuine Super Bowl aspirations will finish with a top-10 pick in the following year's draft.

That disappointment doesn't just manifest itself in the form of a couple of players. It takes an entire roster full of letdowns to accomplish the disastrous dismay the Jets achieved in 2024.

To make matters worse, the Jets went all-in on this season, sacrificing future financial flexibility with a host of expensive, back-loaded contracts. Many of those contracts proved to be catastrophic for the organization.

From underwhelming free-agent additions to internal extensions that proved to be mistakes, let's take a look at six players who figuratively robbed the Jets blind this season.

6. C.J. Mosley, LB, NY Jets

It feels a little mean-spirited putting C.J. Mosley on this list. Mosley has been the unquestioned captain of the Jets' defense and one of the most important leaders on and off the field for the organization over the last few years.

But it's safe to say that the Jets likely regret restructuring his deal in the offseason. Mosley was on the books for $7.4 million in 2024 and will have cap hits of $12.8 million and $7.7 million in 2025 and 2026, respectively.

The Jets could mitigate the cap hit a little by releasing him this offseason and designating him as a post-June 1st cut, but they're still looking at carrying a dead cap charge for Mosley through the 2028 season.

Mosley appeared in just four games in 2024 as a result of various injuries, playing 110 total defensive snaps. That's not what the Jets were hoping for when they restructured his contract in the offseason.

5. Allen Lazard, WR, NY Jets

Allen Lazard set the bar extremely low with his first season in New York, so much so that his early-season performance actually convinced many Jets fans that a bounce-back season was in store. But in the end, the Jets were treated to the same Allen Lazard as in 2023.

Lazard leads all qualified players with a whopping 19 percent drop rate. He ranks sixth among all players in total drops with eight despite hauling in just 34 catches this season. This comes one year after he also led the NFL in drop rate (min. 40 targets).

What's more, Lazard's seven penalties rank second among all receivers despite the fact that he's played just 11 games. He's been every bit as underwhelming as he was in his first Jets season.

Lazard's $12.2 million cap hit was the fourth-highest on the entire Jets roster in 2024. The Jets will cut ties in the offseason, solidifying Lazard as one of the team's worst free-agent signings in recent memory.

4. Greg Zuerlein, K, NY Jets

Greg Zuerlein put together the single-best season by a Jets kicker in franchise history in 2023. The team rewarded him with a shiny new two-year, $8.4 million extension in the offseason — a no-brainer move to retain one of the Jets' most consistent players.

Few could have predicted what would happen in 2024. Zuerlein went from arguably the NFL's best kicker to the league's worst, making just 9-of-15 field goal attempts before being placed on the injured reserve with a "knee injury."

Zuerlein failed to connect on a single kick beyond 40 yards this season. This stark regression is difficult to reconcile after his stellar 2023 campaign, but it encapsulates the unfortunate reality the Jets faced in 2024.

The Jets will almost definitely release Zuerlein in the offseason, but because of void years, he will count against the cap until the end of the 2028 season. This was a disastrous extension for Gang Green.

3. Javon Kinlaw, DT, NY Jets

Former Jets head coach Robert Saleh lobbied for his team to sign ex-49ers bust Javon Kinlaw in free agency in an attempt to revamp a defensive line room that was among the team's strengths in 2023. Kinlaw was a prime reason for the Jets' defensive line regression.

The former first-round pick has been a major letdown in 2024, racking up just 3.5 sacks and 28 pressures. His lowly 53.9 Pro Football Focus grade ranks 81st among 125 qualified interior defensive linemen.

Kinlaw has been a massive liability in run defense, whiffing on over 15 percent of his tackle attempts while registering a PFF run defense grade of just north of 50.0. This predictably lackluster production makes his one-year, $7.25 million contract look even worse.

The Kinlaw contract was widely seen as an overpay at the time, and because the Jets used void years to fit him under the cap, he'll count against their spending through 2028. This was one of Saleh's biggest misses.

2. Mike Williams, WR, NY Jets

The Jets signed Mike Williams to a one-year, $10 million contract this past offseason to ideally serve as an excellent WR2 opposite Garrett Wilson. In the end, Williams would play just nine games with the Jets, hauling in 12 catches before he was unceremoniously traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Williams was essentially paid over $800,000 per catch and over $1 million per game he was active. His Jets tenure will best be remembered for his role in two separate game-sealing interceptions and his passive-aggressive feud with Aaron Rodgers.

The Williams signing made sense at the time. The Jets were looking to add a competent WR2 alongside Wilson and Williams had been a very productive NFL receiver when healthy. Unfortunately, the gamble didn't pay off.

Williams has similarly struggled to carve out a role in Pittsburgh, so at least the Jets can take some solace in knowing the difficulties weren't exclusive to their system. Their evaluation is where they went wrong.

1. Haason Reddick, DE/LB, NY Jets

Haason Reddick embodies the concept of "robbing a team blind" and is, quite frankly, the inspiration behind this story. However, Reddick’s case is unique. Not only did he leave the Jets empty-handed, but he also managed to scam his now-former agency and, in a twist, even conned himself in the process.

The Jets sent a conditional 2026 third-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for the former All-Pro pass rusher in a move that seemed like a stroke of genius on the part of Joe Douglas at the time. Unfortunately, the ensuing saga would prove to be a microcosm of a catastrophic Jets season.

Reddick held out throughout training camp and didn't re-join the Jets until midway through the season. His performance since returning has been nothing short of abysmal.

Reddick is amazingly the only qualified edge rusher in the NFL (min. 175 pass-rush snap) not to record a full sack this season. Despite this, Reddick still met his playing time incentives, meaning he will earn $9.5 million regardless.

The Haason Reddick trade will go down as one of the most embarrassing in franchise history for both team and player and the resulting saga will serve as both a cautionary tale and a grim footnote in the Jets' turbulent history.