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I have been covering the Jets for a long time, and have never covered a scenario like this before.
This Haason Reddick situation is a first, and honestly, it’s hard to think of it happening anywhere else in recent years, that I can recall.
And Joe Douglas is a highly-regarded football executive around the league, and while the record doesn’t show, he’s done a lot of good things running the Jets football operation. However, many people want to know, why would he trade for a player who is disgruntled over his contract on his previous team, without fixing the contract dispute before making the trade. And if you couldn’t fix the contract mess before the trade, why make the trade?
Douglas said today they did talk about an extension with the then Philadelphia Eagles defensive end before making the trade, but could not agree to terms, but made the trade anyone.
“We’ve been clear from the outset of “hey, let’s get here and then let’s talk,'” Douglas said today.
I could be totally missing something on this approach, and Douglas has negotiated a lot more contracts than I have, but on the surface, it seems like perhaps you are inviting trouble with that bargaining position.
Because let’s say he did honor his side of this scenario, and after a month, he still wasn’t happy with the offers, he could bolt then or after two months, or three months, say, “I’m outta here – these offers stink.”
So even if he came in and worked his tail off during the negotiations, it still could have turned into the nasty contract dispute we are now seeing.
I was not there today, but the reporters in the Douglas press conference did a good job pressing him and asking all the right questions.
About nine minutes in, Douglas was thrown a lifeline by a reporter asking about something else.
Honestly, I would have gone the whole 17 minutes on this one topic.
From a reporter’s standpoint, a lot of onion layers to peel on this one.
Very unusual story.
Douglas was asked if he was “frustrated” by the Reddick situation.
“I wouldn’t say frustrated,” Douglas said.
Perhaps GMs don’t like to admit being frustrated to the media, but this has to be incredibly frustrating, and an unneeded distraction.
I wouldn’t say it was a distraction in camp, but it is now with the opener on the horizon.
Will they have this key pass rusher going out to face the high-octane San Francisco 49ers offense?
All the Jets stories today and tomorrow will be about the Reddick mess.
And many players will see them, unless they are living in a cave.
Douglas was asked about the conversations with the player and agent before the trade, where perhaps there was some miscommunication.
“Felt really, really good at the conversations leading up to and before we made the trade,” Douglas said.
Perhaps there was a bait-and-switch by the player and his agent.
Another factor, I hear is Reddick’s father is very, very involved.
So it’s not just the player and agent involved with this nasty holdout.
Douglas was asked if he had any regrets trading end John Franklin-Myers to Denver considering what is going on with Reddick.
“I definitely don’t regret the decision and don’t look back,” Douglas said.
Nor should he.
For some reason, there are people in the media making Franklin-Myers into Howie Long.
JFM is a decent player, but was a little inconsistent and disappeared for stretches. The trade was fine.
But this Reddick situation isn’t.
And Douglas trading for a contract dispute just doesn’t seem to be how he’s wired.
Strange situation.
August 29, 2024
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