Will the Bucs Make a Trade for Haason Reddick?

Will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers try to trade for one of the NFL's pass-rushing stars?

Dec 31, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick (7) looks on during the second quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Much is made in the National Football League of the "window", or the amount of time a team has to be a contender for a Super Bowl trophy. They open and close at various intervals for (most) NFL teams, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made a point to try and keep theirs open even after the Tom Brady era from 2020-22.

At the moment, the team is 4-2 with a +37 point differential, so things are looking good this early in the year. But there are always ways to improve and players to look at on the market, and for teams that believe they are contenders and that their window is still open, one particular star appears to be back on the market.

You would refer to pass rusher Haason Reddick as Jets pass rusher Haason Reddick, but that wouldn't exactly be true — he hasn't even shown up to the building the entire year, much less played a down for them. Reddick was traded to New York from the Philadelphia Eagles after he held out in a contract dispute, and despite trading for him, the Jets did not solve that dispute, so he's still holding out, and with new agent Drew Rosenhaus on board, it appears as if the Jets may be willing to shop him to a team that can pay him what he wants.

The Jets have given Haason Reddick and his reps a short window to seek a trade, per sources. His new representation, Drew Rosenhaus, has been reaching out to teams over the last 12 hours to gauge interest.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) October 15, 2024

Now, the question you've been waiting to be answered — will the Bucs try to go after Haason Reddick?

Probably not.

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Let's talk production first, and then we'll get to the big issue. It looked like Tampa Bay's defensive line was struggling at the beginning of the year, failing to get pressure and bring down the quarterback, but that's changed. The Bucs have netted 15 sacks in their last three games, bringing down the quarterback at a solid rate. The return of defensive tackle Calijah Kancey should help that even more, so at the moment, Tampa Bay isn't hurting for sack production and is not in desperate need of a pass rusher.

Not to say, of course, that they couldn't ask for more. Contenders tend to do that. But let's talk about the biggest reason why that isn't sustainable — money.

Per Over the Cap, the Buccaneers have $11,417,552 in cap space. If they traded for Haason Reddick right now and took his current deal with the Jets (the one that he refuses to play on), you would immediately be $3,582,448 over the salary cap.

That is, of course, not to say that you couldn't fix that. You could make some cuts and then frame Reddick's contract in a way that would not count too much against the cap for the first few years, but if you do this, you would continue to push the limits of the salary cap like general manager Jason Licht has done for years during the Tom Brady era — and the team is still paying for it. Personally, I think the Bucs are done with that sort of thing, and given the fact the Reddick is also already 30 and hasn't played football for a while, this wouldn't be a good idea for Tampa Bay.

Other teams that have a good enough team to try and win a championship this year and have the cap space for a big Reddick extension may bite on this opportunity, since Reddick has netted 11 or more sacks in his last four years of play. But don't expect Jason Licht and the Buccaneers to bite.

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