Haason Reddick holdout is a bad look for Robert Saleh and the NY Jets

The NY Jets remain at an impasse with star pass rusher Haason Reddick as the team's training camp officially kicks off this weekend. Amidst Reddick's official holdout from camp, the comments made by Jets head coach Robert Saleh earlier in the offseason look even less flattering.

The Jets seemed confident that Reddick would be in attendance for all voluntary and mandatory events of the offseason program. Multiple reports have suggested that the Jets believed Reddick wouldn't miss any team events regardless of his contract situation.

Perhaps that's why Saleh told reporters that he was not concerned about Reddick possibly missing mandatory minicamp after he was a no-show for OTAs. And perhaps that's also why Saleh told reporters last month that he wasn't concerned about Reddick missing any training camp dates.

Evidently, Saleh was wrong. The Jets misjudged the situation. You can blame Reddick for making the decision to hold out, but Saleh's inaccurate comments only serve to make the Jets look clueless in this ordeal. It's not a great look for the organization.

Haason Reddick holdout highlights Robert Saleh's stunningly poor communication

The assumption is still that the Reddick situation will sort itself out. SNY's Connor Hughes reported on Tuesday that the Jets attempted to work out a new contract before the team traded for Reddick this past spring.

The two sides then discussed a potential short-term band-aid deal that would adjust his current contract by adding guaranteed money and incentives. The Jets seemed to be under the impression that Reddick was "on board" with this arrangement.

But plans changed. The Jets never managed to get a deal done with Reddick, and now the team is in a stand-off with their prized offseason addition — all while their head coach has been made to look incompetent because of his public comments about the situation.

Even if this dilemma gets resolved and Reddick does report for training camp, that's still not an ideal situation, and it's likely one that could've been avoided.

Again, this isn't to place all the blame on the Jets. It's very possible that Reddick (or more likely his agent) changed his stance when the Jets traded away John Franklin-Myers for scraps during the 2024 NFL Draft.

The departure of Franklin-Myers suddenly gave Reddick more leverage in the situation, allowing his agent to push for higher demands. That could be what complicated the issue and allowed this situation to drag out as long as it has.

The Jets have publicly leaked that they don't intend to negotiate a new contract with Reddick until he shows up for training camp — an obvious ploy to get the All-Pro pass rusher in the building. It's also notable that all leaked accounts of the situation have come from the Jets' perspective.

It's impossible to know exactly what happened and why we've reached this point, but the public perception surrounding Saleh and the organization isn't particularly encouraging.

Reddick forced his way out of Philadelphia due to his desire for a new contract. The Jets were well aware of this and publicly insisted that he would be in attendance for every portion of the offseason program, only to be proven wrong every step of the way.

Even if the Jets aren't truly at fault here, that's a really bad look for the organization.

The Reddick situation should eventually be resolved. The Jets will have an opportunity to silence their doubters with the help of their new star pass rusher. But for now, this situation reflects very poorly on Saleh, Joe Douglas, and the entire organization.