Joe Douglas said Thursday he did talk about a new contract with the rep for then Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Haason Reddick before making a March trade for the player, but could not agree to terms.
“We’ve been clear from the outset of “Hey, let’s get here and then let’s talk,'” Douglas said.
Some might argue you are perhaps inviting trouble with this bargaining approach.
Let’s say Reddick did honor his side of this scenario initially, but after a month or two, he was not happy with the offers and said, “I don’t like these offers – I’m outta here.”
So even if he came in and worked his tail off during the negotiations, it could still have turned into a nasty contract dispute, and the player could have bolted at some point a few months in.
So while it’s easy to second-guess, and hindsight is 20-20, some might argue it would have been best to work out the contract before the trade, and if you couldn’t, perhaps not make the trade.
This whole thing doesn’t seem Joe Douglas-like.
Perhaps the GM was a victim of a bait-and-switch where he was told one thing up front, and then the player and his camp did an about-face.
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