Is it possible it’s not about the contract?

After Robert Saleh announced on June 11 that defensive end Haason Reddick wasn’t at the Jets minicamp, New York Post reporter Brian Costello asked him: “Haason isn’t here because of his contract, I assume?”

“I don’t know that,” Saleh said.

That quote probably deserved more attention than it got.

If the coach doesn’t know it’s about the contract why assume it is?

Costello had a follow-up question:

“Joe (Douglas) didn’t indicate [it was about the contract] to you, Robert?”

“Not that I’m aware of, no,” Saleh said.

So maybe we are barking up the wrong tree. Maybe this about something other than the contract.

Saleh was asked about his last conservation with Reddick sometime before the minicamp.

“I’ll keep the details between he and I, but he’s fine,” Saleh said.

So it’s not about the contract, and “he’s fine.”

Perhaps people are making too big a deal about this.

Another New York Post reporter, Zach Braziller, asked Saleh, “Are you concerned at all he wouldn’t be here for the start of camp?”

“I’m not,” Saleh said. “I understand everything that’s happening, but at the same time, I know when it comes time to play football, like I said before he’s going to be ready to play football.”

We certainly know he will be ready to rush the passer. We will see about playing the run.

Rich Cimini, ESPN.com: “When you talked to him was that the first time you had had communication with him since the trade?”

“Yeah,” Saleh said. “Simple texts here and there, but conversation wise like I said, leading up to minicamp just different environment, see where he is mentally, and like I said he’s in a great place mentally.”

Another sign that perhaps the saga has been blown out of proportion is that “he’s in a great place mentally.”

There were reports that Reddick is unhappy with his contact, and wanted a raise from the $14.25 million he is scheduled to make this season, but the coach said he’s “not aware” of Reddick’s absence from the spring being about his contract, and says the player is “fine” and “a great place mentally” why are people assuming the player is disgruntled?

Maybe people are making a mountain out of a molehill.

After all, none of us are mindreaders, since the coach said that he’s not aware that Reddick’s spring absence is about the contract, and feels the player is fine, why should we assume anything else?

Based on what the coach said, things are not that bad on the Reddick front, so maybe Jets fans and reporters should stop making a big deal about this.

Bill Parcells would sometimes get on reporters for assuming things without being able to prove it.

I remember a reporter once said to Parcells in a press conference that he seemed pissed off, and Parcells responded, “Don’t interpret my mood.”

So based on some of these answers from Saleh about Reddick, maybe we are making too many assumptions about what is happening here.

July 9, 2024

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