Last Friday, the Jets acquired edge-rusher Hassan Reddick, a player with 50.5 sacks the last four seasons, from the Philadelphia Eagles, for just a 2026 conditional third-round pick.
Why would the Eagles give the Jets such a sweetheart deal for a pass-rusher of this magnitude? Double-digit sack guys aren’t easy to find.
Is it possible that this was payback for perhaps tampering with Jets free agent end Bryce Huff before the legal tampering period began?
Former NFL GM Michael Lombardi, said on March 6 on VSIN, five days before the legal tampering period even began: “I know there is a team that has offered [Bryce Huff] a fairly substantial amount of money, and I think he’s going to go to that team. I don’t want to accuse the team of tampering, so I won’t say (which team it is).”
Then after Huff signed, Lombardi essentially came clean on what team he was talking about on March 6:
“I reported last week, Bryce Huff before the franchise tag (deadline), that everyone in the league thought Bryce Huff was an Eagle,” Lombardi said. “I didn’t say the team because things can change, but everyone in the league thought Bryce Huff was an Eagle. Turns out he was an Eagle.”
Did the Eagles trade Reddick to the Jets for such a low price because they know they had a hand in the cookie jar prematurely with Huff, and the Jets could easily file a tampering claim with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell?
Maybe, you never know.
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