Bear Digest

Why Bears Need Not Participate in Haason Reddick Fire Sale

Analysis: A double-digit sack artist is available to the right bidder but Jets holdout Haason Reddick has too much baggage for the Bears to pursue even if it means the Lions get him.

Gene Chamberlain

Haason Reddick was dealt by the Eagles to the Jets and still is a holdout, which should by a warning to possible teams interested.
Haason Reddick was dealt by the Eagles to the Jets and still is a holdout, which should by a warning to possible teams interested. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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With the NFL trade deadline approaching and the Bears in a bye week, it's safe to wonder if they might need to do something to further improve their defense.

Call it being aggressively defensive in the trade market.

The Detroit Lions lost Aidan Hutchinson to a broken leg and were positioned to make a run at the Super Bowl. Without their main defensive line threat, it's safe to speculate they might rapidly become the fourth-best team in a powerful NFC North.

A team with only offense can only go so far, just like the Bears have found when they had only a defense. And Detroit's secondary remains a question without backing from a real edge rusher who is at the elite level Hutchinson is.

Speculation by The Athletic's Mike Sando and SI.com's Liam McKeone is the Lions could or should have interest in trading for Jets edge Haason Reddick.

Reddick is easlily the only edge rusher available close enough to Hutchinson in ability that he'd be ideal for the Lions.

There's no doubt Reddick would be there for the taking if a team gives the Jets a call because Reddick hasn't been playing. He's a holdout who has decided not to participate until he gets a new deal.

Reddick would fit in perfectly with the Lions whether they had Hutchinson or not. They have the fourth-most available cap space this year at $28 million so they could afford to pay for much of the deal with this year's cap. The complementary edge rusher to Hutchinson was something they lacked, anyway.

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It's easy to wonder if the Bears might not benefit by offering a trade for Reddick, as well. While they have had contributions from DeMarcus Walker and Darrell Taylor on the outside, another dominant rusher could mean even more sacks.

Any team can use another good pass rusher off the edge and an edge rusher of Reddick's status could remove the double-team pressure from Montez Sweat.

Reddick came into the season with four straight years of double-digit sacks while Sweat just did it last year for the first time. The former All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowl player is the proto-typical edge while Sweat is more of an all-around type of defensive player.

Reddick has changed agents to Drew Rosenhaus in an attempt to get a deal with the Jets and he needs to do it quickly because the Nov. 5 trade deadline is approaching.

Ultimately, it's not the type of move Ryan Poles would be likely to make and here's why he'd be left for the Lions or 49ers or some other team to pursue even though the draft pick New York could get from the Bears would be better positioned than would the pick from many other contenders.

1. No Me in Team

The Bears based their rebuild not on one or two players but on a group of players. It's team over self. It's a real team approach and the attitudes of players reflects this.

Reddick has already built a selfish reputation by his demands before being traded by the Eagles, and when he was dealt to the Jets for a third-round pick he didn't report for camp because he didn't like what the Jets were willing to do for a contract. What's he going to do with the next team? Sit out again if he isn't immediately signed?

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The Bears don't need that kind of drama. When Poles had the chance to trade for Matthew Judon, he expressed the thought on HBO's Hard Knocks that he didn't want to put the team in position to acquire a player who he felt could be a contract problem.

Acquiring Reddick would be exactly that situation.

2. Current Cash

The Bears have only $6.5 million available under the cap left this year, the 22nd most according to Overthecap.com. They could need most of that as operating money in case of an injury and signing to fill a roster spot. They wouldn't be able to devote much money from this year's cap to a deal for Reddick anyway.

Reddick's demands would have to be higher than Sweat's based on his higher sack totals. 

3. The Future

Beyond these other two, teams generally are not going to sign two big edge rusher contracts, a big linebacker contract and a big cornerback deal. The Bears already have the big money going to Sweat, to Jaylon Johnson and to Tremaine Edmunds. That's tipping the pay scales too much toward defensive end.

The big-money contract they need to sign next is for guard Teven Jenkins. He's showing he is worth the cash.

4. Current Players

The Bears believe they have a potentially elite pass rush as they blend in Taylor with DeMarcus Walker and they have Jake Martin available now after a toe injury from training camp healed. These players have all made the commitment to this Bears team at their current salaries and bringing in a mercenary type disrupts the status quo in a negative manner.

5. Conditioning Question

Reddick missed training camp and hasn't participated. According to ESPN, he incurred over $1 million in fines for not showing up for training camp. Coming in off the street and rushing the passer isn't quite something players do. They need to be in football shape. They need time to ramp up. Anyone acquiring Reddick now could be looking at several more weeks before they get any kind of return on his abilities.

6. The Bears Have a Pass Rush

How important is one more player who can rush anyway? The Bears are tied for seventh in sacks per game with the Lions at 3.0. They went into last week second in the NFL in ESPN's pass rush win rate metric. Defensive coordinator Eric Washington, added to their defensive line staff with coach Travis Smith, has made a huge difference in their pass rush technique.

It's not sacks that are important. It's pressure on the QB. The league leader in sacks? The Giants with 4.3 per game. It's really doing them a lot of good. The Jets are fourth without Reddick even playing and it's not doing them any good, either.

The pressure is important because it leads to takeaways, and that's what the Bears defense is all about. They are already second in takeaways and fourth in interceptions. They lead in fumble recoveries. How many more takeaways are they going to get with someone like Reddick added to the mix?

They already have sufficient pressure from current players to avoid bringing in a potential risk like Reddick.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.