On Sunday, Jets starting defensive end Jermaine Johnson tore his achilles tendon on the synthetic turf at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium ending his season.
So this led some to surmise that this injury could help the bargaining position of holdout defensive end Haason Reddick, who the Jets traded for in March but has yet to practice or play in a game with his new team, due to a contract dispute.
There was a wire service headline after the Johnson injury in Tennessee: “Injury thins Jets’ defensive line and could help hold out Haason Reddick’s bid for a new deal.”
Unless Jets GM Joe Douglas wants to set a bad precedent, perhaps the Johnson injury should not help Reddick’s bargaining position.
Some would argue that you shouldn’t reward a player who is not honoring his contract by giving him a new deal just because of an injury at his position. When the Jets traded with Philadelphia for Reddick, he had one year left on his contract valued at $14.25 million.
Reddick’s holdout hurt the Jets in their opening-day loss to San Francisco, where their edge-rush was substandard.
If you reward a player, who has already hurt the team by not honoring his contract, you could be setting a bad precedent with players and agents in the future.
You send the message: “Just hold out long enough, and you will get what you want.”
The Jets can’t afford to do that with some star players coming up for contracts in the next few years.
So some would argue the Johnson injury should not impact the Jets’ stance with Reddick.
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