NY Jets can't be blamed for Haason Reddick going rogue amidst holdout

You can blame the NY Jets for a lot of their own current issues. From their lackluster offensive coaching staff to some questionable offseason moves, the Jets are far from the perfect organization. But it's hard to find any fault from the Jets' side in the ongoing Haason Reddick situation.

The former All-Pro pass rusher remains away from the team as he continues a holdout that has dragged on well into the regular season. He's accumulated just shy of $10 million in fines dating back to his mandatory minicamp absence in June.

Now, his agents have had enough. Reddick was officially dropped by his agency, CAA, on Thursday, following months of confusing negotiation tactics that have only served to hurt the two-time Pro Bowler.

Reddick is now down $10 million, without an agency, and is no closer to returning to the football field. He's actively tanking his career under the guise of misguided principles. That's not on the Jets — no one could have seen this coming.

Haason Reddick has gone rogue on the NY Jets

The Jets originally traded a conditional 2026 third-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for Reddick in early April this past spring. Reddick was entering the final year of his contract and seeking a long-term extension.

It's unclear exactly what was agreed to between Reddick and the Jets. Each party has a different account of the story, but what we do know is that the two sides agreed to continue talks following the trade.

The Jets deserve some share of the blame for this. Trading for a player seeking a long-term extension and not immediately including said extension as part of the transaction is an inherent risk.

That doesn't mean the Jets could have predicted what ultimately transpired, but they were aware of the risk taken by trading for Reddick without immediately giving him a new contract. This is that risk, and they're paying for it — maybe not financially, but tangibly.

But the blame should stop there. The Jets likely operated under the assumption that cooler heads would prevail. They assumed Reddick and his camp would negotiate with the use of logic and that the two sides would eventually be able to reach some sort of compromise.

They were wrong. Reddick has actively sabotaged his own career against the advice of his own representatives. His agency dropped him because of his own financial malpractice. This is an unprecedented situation.

It's easy to point fingers at the team, especially when that team is the Jets, but Joe Douglas and company are not at fault here. Reddick is holding out for a long-term contract that no team is interested in giving him.

He's overvaluing his market and losing $900,000 every week in non-rescindable fines on the basis of principle. He's tanking his value and ruining any chance he had at securing an actual payday in the future.

He's ruining his career.

You can blame Douglas for some puzzling defensive line moves this offseason. You can blame him for crafting arguably the worst offensive coaching staff in the NFL. But he's playing his cards right with Haason Reddick.

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