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Haason Reddick is not present at the Jets mandatory minicamp.
Reddick is now on his fourth team in five years.
Perhaps we are starting to see why.
He seems to be a little like Darrelle Revis – has a proclivity for contract disputes.
And one thing you hear about Reddick is that he will lead you to believe that things are okay, when there not, and that is what you witnessed during his introductory press conference.
“Contractual stuff, I’m leaving that up to my agent and (Jets GM) Joe (Douglas) to figure out,” he said. “But whatever happens, I’m going to be happy for it, I’m going to give my all, no matter what. That’s just who I am as a person. No matter how it goes, how many years, I’m going to be here for however long I’m here for and I’m going to give the team, the fans, everything that I have.”
Clearly he’s not “happy” with his contract, and this quote was kind of window-dressing, perhaps a case of an individual not being forthright with his true feelings.
Robert Saleh was asked repeatedly if Reddick’s contract situation is why he’s not here, but repeatedly told us we would have to talk to Joe Douglas, to the point, where the coach and reporter Brian Costello were joking about it, because he kept saying it.
Douglas is not available to the press until sometime in August, so we can’t ask him about what is going on with Reddick.
That isn’t a a complaint, but just telling you why we can’t ask Joe now.
Have to admit this is a first for me. Have never covered a team that acquired a contract dispute.
And right now, isn’t that what this looks like?
He wanted a new contract from the Eagles. They weren’t going to do it. So they traded him to the Jets, and he wants a new contract from the Jets.
“There is no general manager in the league that would have traded for Reddick without a deal, if you wanted to give him a deal,” said former NFL GM Mike Lombardi on VSIN. “So now, they are laying in this mud, this dirt. Reddick is sitting out there, like ‘You trading for me, I’m your mess.’”
But I still have a hard time believing Joe Douglas blindly traded for Reddick without any discussions with the player and agent about his contract situation.
I’m not a special pleader for Douglas, but this isn’t his first rodeo.
Do you really think he did that? Said, “Screw it, I will take on a contract mess and hope it works out.”
I’m sorry, I find that hard to believe.
Something changed.
And also keep something in mind on the contract front: The Jets in the near future, are going to have to pay four guys from the same class big money – Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson and Breece Hall.
So while so people might not think that has anything to do with Reddick, when it comes to long-term planning, it does.
But there is no way around this situation – it’s weird – trading for a contract dispute. I know there is perhaps more to the story than that, but that is where this is at right now.
Speaking of weird, how else would you describe Aaron Rodgers not being at the veteran minicamp.
Not going to lie to you – I have no idea what this prior engagement is that precluded him from being at minicamp.
It’s certainly not a good thing, and maybe it’s me, but the practice today seemed a little deflated – not a lot of juice.
Aside from Tyrod Taylor checking down a lot, and not taking many chances in the passing game that Rodgers would, it just seemed like a practice, let’s say . . . without their franchise QB.
Let’s be honest, how could players on the Jets finding out today Rodgers wasn’t going to be here, not impact their psyche, the pep in their steps, just a little bit.
Their human.
June 11, 2024
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