New York Jets Should Strongly Consider Benching Haason Reddick

The New York Jets should rip off the band aid and bench their veteran pass rusher, Haason Reddick, for poor performance.

Oct 31, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets defensive end Haason Reddick (7) looks on during pregame warmups for their game against the Houston Texans at MetLife Stadium. / Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

The New York Jets have made several moves since acquiring quarterback Aaron Rodgers during the 2023 offseason that would be categorized as “all-in” transactions.

Some of them have begun paying dividends, like the Davante Adams acquisition.

Over the last few weeks, he and Rodgers have rekindled the chemistry they showed earlier in their careers with the Green Bay Packers. It has resulted in some big performances and some people coming around to the idea of both players coming back in 2025.

The trade for offensive tackle Morgan Moses has also been solid.

Needing to upgrade in the trenches, he was one of several additions made along the offensive line during the 2024 offseason. He has been a solid bookend with rookie Olu Fashanu, as Alijah Vera-Tucker, Joe Tippmann and John Simpson hold it down on the interior.

Unfortunately, not all of the team’s acquisitions have panned out.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is pass rusher Haason Reddick, who is in the running for the worst addition of the year.

The Jets thought they were creating one of the most fearsome pass rushes in the NFL by adding him in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a conditional third-round pick. It would become a second if he played 67.5 percent of the snaps and recorded 10 sacks or was traded to an NFC team.

Reddick isn’t going to come close to any of those plateaus, as he will be lucky to even remain in the lineup at this point.

His decision to hold out, as he didn’t report to the team following the trade for months, has backfired in spectacular fashion. He made his debut in Week 8 against the New England Patriots and some slack was given as rust needed to be knocked off.

In the following game against the Houston Texans, he made a major impact, relentlessly putting pressure on C.J. Stroud with his teammates.

Alas, that was the last time most fans could say they saw him on the field, as his production has been nonexistent.

He recorded half-a-sack against the Texans. In the five games since he has yet to record another and has only eight combined tackles, two of which went for a loss, with zero quarterback hits. Only four pressures combined have been recorded in his seven appearances.

Against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 15, things hit rock bottom for the star pass rusher.

He earned an overall grade of 34.5 from PFF, which includes a truly embarrassing 33.0 run defense grade. That has dropped his overall grade on the season to 49.8. As shared by Justin Fried on X, that ranks him No. 80 out of 81 qualified players since Week 9.

That kind of production should have interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich and the staff seriously contemplating benching their veteran edge rusher. He is bringing nothing to the table production-wise and there is little incentive to keep rolling him out there.

Given where the team currently stands, as they clinched a ninth straight losing season and will miss the playoffs for 14 years in a row, they might as well give younger players a chance to see what they can do with extended playing time.

Reddick was unlikely to be part of the team’s long-term plans unless he truly showed out after his holdout. Since that hasn’t happened, it is easy to see him not being a part of the team’s long-term plans after this disastrous performance, and shouldn’t be part of their immediate present plans, either.