New York Jets, Haason Reddick Contract Saga No Longer About Fines

Now that New York Jets training camp has concluded, the heat will be on Haason Reddick to determine if he wants to report.

Dec 3, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick (7) reacts after a defensive stop against the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Labor Day marks the first day after the end of training camp and the preseason for the New York Jets — officially.

As ESPN reported on Sunday, the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement outlines that training camp runs through the last Sunday before the first regular-season game.

That’s an important line in the sand in the case of the Jets vs. contract holdout Haason Reddick.

During training camp and the preseason, the only stick New York had with Reddick were fines for not reporting to camp. Now, those fines weren’t insignificant. The mandatory camp fine is $50,000 per day. ESPN calculated that Reddick’s total fine for sitting out the entirety of camp and the preseason was $2.05 million.

That’s a big check that Reddick will have to sign once this holdout ends.

But, with the Jets’ regular-season opener with the San Francisco 49ers coming up on Monday Night Football, the game changes.

The Jets will no longer be fining Reddick. If he doesn’t show up for the opener, he’ll be surrendering a game check.

Reddick signed a three-year, $45 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles before the 2022 season. After they traded him to the Jets for a draft pick, the two teams worked out the financials and the Jets will be responsible for paying Reddick $14.5 million in 2024.

Knowing that, the math becomes easy. Players are paid for each game. So divide the amount by 17 and you get what each player gets for each game check.

Remember those $50,000 fines? They pale in comparison to the $852,941 Reddick will surrender per game if he doesn’t show up to play for the Jets.

Last week, Jets general manager Joe Douglas said there had been little conversation between himself and Reddick’s camp on a new deal. In fact, he told reporters that the team is waiting on him.

Now, with the regular season opener a week away, the Jets have more leverage.

Since he arrived in New York he hasn’t budged on his desire for a new deal, which is what led to his trade. He held out all of training camp and even demanded another trade. Douglas said they tried to work out an extension before the trade but made the deal confident one could get done.

Last season with Philadelphia he finished with 11 sacks, 23 quarterback hits and 13 tackles for loss, leading to a second straight Pro Bowl nod.

In 2022, the first year of his current deal, he had career highs with 16 sacks and 26 quarterback hits. He also forced an NFL-best five fumbles that season.

In the past four years he has amassed 51 sacks. Only Trey Hendrickson (53), Myles Garrett (58) and T.J. Watt (62) have more sacks in that span. He is also one of seven defensive players with a streak of at least four season of 10 or more sacks in the past 10 years.

He also leads the NFL in forced fumbles (15) and strip sacks (13) in that span.