Inside Look at Eagles' Complicated Haason Reddick Trade Situation

Philadelphia Eagles pass rusher Haason Reddick has always had a chip on his shoulder and feels he's outperformed his contract.
In this story:

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles have granted star edge rusher Haason Reddick permission to seek a trade, a league source confirmed to SI.com's Eagles Today on Super Bowl Sunday.

Reddick, who is set to turn 30 early in the 2024 season, is about to enter the final year of a three-year contract he signed with the Eagles before the 2022 season. 

A Camden, N.J. native who played in college at Temple University in Philadelphia, Reddick has recorded 27 sacks in his two seasons with the Eagles, leading the team in both campaigns and ranking sixth in the entire NFL over that span.

He was a second-team All-Pro with 19.5 sacks, including the playoffs, when the Eagles made their run to Super Bowl LVII. Felling he outperformed his contract, Reddick was hoping for an adjustment from his hometown team before last season that never came.

Eyebrows were raised when Reddick missed the first two practices of training camp last summer with a groin injury with some speculating it was a "hold-in" but Reddick quickly returned, confirming both his professionalism and the obvious elephant in the room of outperming his contract at a well-compensated position.

Haason Reddick has a big salary-cap charge entering the final year of contract.
USA Today

“I mean I ain’t gonna sit here and ... like I said, y’all see it, y’all know what’s going on,” Reddick replied when asked if he was underpaid. “I’m just worried about being the best version of myself. And I’ll let everything else sort itself out.”

Reddick played well again in 2023 coming off what was a career season but was hampered by a broken thumb early and the tortured in-season shift from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia as the Eagles' defensive play-caller late. 

Despite those hurdles, Reddick remained in the conversation for being the Eagles' best defensive player, rivaled only by rookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter.

The idea from the Eagles' side is to allow Reddick and his representation at CAA to measure his worth around the rest of the league to minimize any angst moving forward. A deal will only come to fruition if it's a win-win for both sides. From the organization's perspective, there would be both the compensation coming back as well as salary-cap considerations.

Reddick is set to make $15.5 million in the final year of his original deal but his cap number spikes to an untenable $21,877,000, the largest on the team, meaning both sides have some urgency to get something done. 

Report: Eagles Want Hurts to Take Next Step in Leadership Role

That situation is also complicated by fellow edge rusher Josh Sweat, 26, entering the final year of his contract with little guaranteed money left and a cap charge of over $9M, which would point toward an extension as well.

The Eagles understood this landscape well when they drafted edge rusher Nolan Smith with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2023 draft but the Georgia product had an underwhelming rookie season, playing just 203 defensive snaps with one sack.

Reddick, meanwhile, has reached double-digits in sacks for four consecutive seasons and would be playing for Vic Fangio next season if the Eagles can work something out, a defensive mind known for utilizing top-tier pass rushers very well.


Published
John McMullen
JOHN MCMULLEN

John McMullen is a veteran reporter who has covered the NFL for over two decades. The current NFL insider for JAKIB Media, John is the former NFL Editor for The Sports Network where his syndicated column was featured in over 200 outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. He was also the national NFL columnist for Today's Pigskin as well as FanRag Sports. McMullen has covered the Eagles on a daily basis since 2016, first for ESPN South Jersey and now for Eagles Today on SI.com's FanNation. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey and part of 6ABC.com's live postgame show after every Eagles game. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen