Production Mystery Continues
March 24th, 2025
So Haason Reddick’s Jets defense last season ranked third in the NFL in yards allowed and 11th in total sacks with 42.
Those are interesting numbers considering a lot of Bucs fans think everything about the Jets last season was a bumbling mess and Reddick had little chance of success as a result.
The new Bucs’ savior edge rusher was an elite player until the 2024 season. Reddick was a contract holdout after getting traded to New York. He returned for the final 10 games and racked up just two half-sacks.
Joe gave Reddick a pass on the first 5 games of the season. Joe believes those represented him getting in shape, etc., though Joe remembers Jason Pierre-Paul walking off the street into a mid-October game from a broken neck suffered in May of 2019. JPP sacked Titans QB Ryan Tannehill on the opening snap and had two additional tackles for loss in the game.
Reddick was not recovering from an injury last season.
So what happened to Reddick’s production? Joe’s been methodically watching Jets film and isn’t sure.
He’s not a stiff but he certainly didn’t look special. The Jets had a Pro Bowl interior lineman on the field (Quinnen Williams) and an edge rusher with double-digit sacks, 2023 first-round pick Will McDonald.
A New York Post story from mid-December dove into Reddick’s performance and got a lot of hype from Jets coaches.
“You know, you might say that had I put on the tape and I saw a guy that looked rusty or slow or not explosive, you know, but everything that we thought we were getting with him, everything that we had seen on tape that made us pursue him as hard as we did has showed up,” interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said of Reddick. “It’s just been a byproduct of a lot of things. Maybe just still getting familiar with what we do, so I don’t think it’s a physical thing so much as the [opportunities].
“For pass rushers to get production, you need to have substantial leads, and you need to have leads throughout the game so that you could really let your rushers go, and we haven’t had enough of those opportunities for him and for our entire D-line, for that matter.”
Joe gets what Ulbrich said, but again, the Jets defense had a lot of talent and some solid numbers.
Joe is ecstatic the Bucs upgraded to Reddick but is unsure of what that upgrade really is.
March 24th, 2025 at 11:24 am
He’s going to be fine
Crumble up last season and toss it in the trash
March 24th, 2025 at 11:41 am
I know reading comments from Jets fans, I didn’t see a single one of them upset that he left.
I think a large part of it was not getting the deal he wanted and just checking out on the season, which means the Bucs should get a very motivated Reddick looking for one last payday. Hopefully.
March 24th, 2025 at 11:46 am
Self preservation mode also hard not to check out on a dumpster fire
March 24th, 2025 at 11:58 am
Forget last year.
March 24th, 2025 at 12:11 pm
Not worried at all. Reddick will do very well with the Bucs. The Jets are no comparison. Fuhgeddaboudit 😊
March 24th, 2025 at 12:15 pm
I am starting to wonder if a 3/4 defense has different responsibilities for an edge rusher than a 4-3 edge rusher. In particular, the responsibility of not allowing anyone to get outside. In a 4/3 defense, I think you have an outside linebacker more available to cover the edges allowing the edge rusher to focus more on an all-out rush
March 24th, 2025 at 12:17 pm
Not impressed by the signing at all, paying a lot for a player who didn’t produce on a more talented defense than the Bucs had in 24
1 sack in 10 games is BAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Don’t care what team or franchise it is for
March 24th, 2025 at 12:18 pm
If you don’t know what the upgrade is, is it really an upgrade?
The reality is that this is a “Hope” signing based on 2 years ago production and ignoring the holdout and trade from Eagles who won the Super Bowl without him.
March 24th, 2025 at 12:29 pm
Well if Reddick produced, he wouldn’t be available, and in any case the Bucs wouldn’t have been able to afford him.
It’s very much not a sure thing. But for the money, past production and the potential upside, it’s a good risk to take, and probably the best option the Bucs had.
March 24th, 2025 at 12:57 pm
I’d love a copy of this argument about free agent production from various other teams that used pluck ex-Bucs. That guy Steve Young from Tampa Bay sucks! It is okay to take players that have a down year on a bad team.
March 24th, 2025 at 1:01 pm
Yep. Calculated risk low cost gamble. No draft capital expended and no long term liability. Another genius pick….if it hits. No serious damage if it doesn’t.
March 24th, 2025 at 1:17 pm
Shame that Mack did not test the free agent market. Mack is going to have a good year , but would have had a huge year in Tampa and made more money here at the same salary.
March 24th, 2025 at 1:31 pm
Rod is right, if Riddick had 12 sacks last season, he’d be making 25-30 million easy this year with some other team. At least now we have a shot to take that affordable risk and buy the Bucs more time to hit on some draft picks.
March 24th, 2025 at 1:36 pm
Reddick is a medium-sized piece in a big puzzle.
If Reddick was a stud, he’d be making $30+ million annually right now, not $14 million on a one year prove-it deal. Try to get 8+sacks out of him and hope Diaby develops well beside him so the Bucs aren’t tempted to sign Reddick to a multi-year deal after this season.
March 24th, 2025 at 1:40 pm
I agree with Munch on this one. If Reddick produces last year it’s no Bucs for him—too expensive.
I watched a Jets-Bills game last year, a 40-14 blowout by the Bills. Reddick did nothing-two tackles. The only reason I was aware of him was due to the announcers being mystified as to why he wasn’t playing better. He played only ten games last year due to the holdout, but the Bills game was his penultimate game and he should have been playing at full throttle by then.
Those who say to trash last year due to him being on the Jets are not thinking things through. Last year, like this one to come, was also a contract year for him and he failed to produce on a defense much better than ours.
Also, the Eagles were willing to give him up via trade the year before. Who is willing to give up on a double digit sack man unless they see a decline?
Truth is, we don’t know what we have in this guy. If he wasn’t motivated during his 2024 contract year, what makes one think things will be different this year?
I hope he rekindles some of his old magic, but to count on this guy to be some sort of sackmaster is a dubious prognostication at best.
Best bet is to cross your fingers and hope for the best.
March 24th, 2025 at 1:59 pm
That’s why I’ve been saying all along that I’m not gonna make any assumptions about this guy till at least mid October. By then we should have at least some idea what we’ve got in this guy. To me he seems like the type of guy to demand a renegotiation in the middle of the season if he gets a few sacks early. I don’t like him very much. Let’s see what happens.
March 24th, 2025 at 2:15 pm
Is it possible he was playing not to get injured on a lame duck team? Definitely hurt his $$$ this year, would be a bad decision if that’s the case. Be more likely to have an excuse if he did get injured playing hard. Not what you would want to hear character wise..
March 24th, 2025 at 2:19 pm
Jeff Ulbrich … “For pass rushers to get production, you need to have substantial leads, and you need to have leads throughout the game so that you could really let your rushers go, and we haven’t had enough of those opportunities for him and for our entire D-line, for that matter.”
Wow, first time I’ve heard THAT argument. According to that logic, double-digit pass rushers should only exist for winning teams (teams with big leads will win more times than not?). Looking at last year, only 4 sack-masters played for teams with losing records …
o Myles Garrett – 14 sacks (Browns 3-14)
o Micah Parsons – 12 sacks (Cowboys 7-10)
o Travon Walker – 10.5 sacks (Jaquars 4-13)
o Zack Zeiler – 10 sacks (Dolphins 8-9)
So MAYBE Ulbrich has a solid point there. And IF that’s the case, Reddick SHOULD do quite a bit better on the Bucs (with our #4 offense) than he did on the Jets (with their #24 offense).
March 24th, 2025 at 2:33 pm
When Reddick signed with the Bucs, did any reporter query him about his lack of production in 2024 during his press conference?
Put respectfully, I don’t believe that’s an ‘out of line’ question.
March 24th, 2025 at 2:34 pm
Riddick would be the first one to sit down with Larry Foote and watch the game film of his Jets (lack of) performance and compare it to what he did with the Eagles in year prior.
Now would be a good time to do that.
March 24th, 2025 at 2:45 pm
BEST WAY TO SEE THE FUTURE IS TO LOOK AT THE PAST
Jason Paul-Pierre
2016 (NYG) – 7
2017 (NYG) – 8.5
2018 (TB) – 12.5
2019 (TB) – 8.5
2020 (TB) – 9.5
JPP was 31 in 2020
March 24th, 2025 at 2:54 pm
JA … ‘Eagles were willing to give him up via trade the year before. Who is willing to give up on a double digit sack man unless they see a decline?’
Great question. I’m wondering if it’s because Eagles have been pushing the salary CAP boundary now for several years. Back in 2023 they had a rather large Dead CAP ($64 mil) and ranked #27 at the end of the year. In 2024 the Dead CAP stayed there (still $64 mil), but their end-of-year ranking improved to #17. That trade actually made a lot of sense for Philly in terms of staying competitive salary CAP-wise.
March 24th, 2025 at 3:10 pm
Who knows how much studying of the playbook he did when he held out. Not only was he trying to get in game shape during that first month but also trying to learn that defense.
March 24th, 2025 at 3:11 pm
Reddick didn’t just have a bad year he completely checked out. 2 half sacks in 10 games isn’t just bad it’s laughable. For those arguing it’s a no risk deal just aren’t seeing the bigger picture. First $14 million dollars isn’t chump change and 2nd if the bucs put to much faith that he shores up the pass rush and go a different direction in the draft that could lead to another disappointment at the end of the season. He was under contract last year to play for $14.5 million and trades are part of the NFL. I don’t like the signing at all he doesn’t fit the mold of a buccaneer..
March 24th, 2025 at 3:25 pm
One things for sure, is that he’ll definitely be better than Michael Johnson.
Ive been going thru some past games of the Bucs on Gamepass including some of the decade of darkness years and woof, was Johnson just terrible.
March 24th, 2025 at 3:47 pm
It’s ok to have second thoughts.
The bucs paid for his 5 yr avg sack production and it’s a calculated risk. At worst he is no better than last year and the glazers raise prices again to cover the 14mil
On the other hand, he has a great off season getting ready, gets his mind right, has a great camp and gets 10+ sacks maybe even 14 or 15 come regular season in a revert to his average of the past 5 years. It really isnt far fetched. It isnt like he got +10 sacks once. He did it 4 years in a row for 3 teams.
I think getting Haason is a good bet even if it doesnt work out.
March 24th, 2025 at 4:22 pm
D.R.—
I read the Eagles gave up on him because they don’t give raises to 30 year old pass rushers. He was getting 15 mil and wanted more, so they traded him to the Jets.
After holding out for seven games, Reddick finally agreed to play for the Jets. My source, the aforementioned from above who I cannot even remember, said Reddick came up 5 mil short last year than if he just suited up and played. That number doesn’t equate via prorate based on games played and a 15 mil contract, so who knows.
Bottom line is the Bucs are throwing Reddick against a wall with hope he sticks.
Won’t cost them a ton in cash, and it was their most likely option/risk based on their own cap issues.
March 24th, 2025 at 4:47 pm
I wonder what number he’s gonna get….Bucky already has #7. Maybe he will offer Bucky money for it
March 24th, 2025 at 4:55 pm
Reddick will be a beast this season
1. Playing with the Bucs not the Jets
2. Will be with a group who all work will together
3. Can’t double him on the line
4. Playing with Vita “THE MAN BEAST” Vea
March 24th, 2025 at 5:27 pm
He simply lost the hunger, anger and interest necessary for him to do his job with zeal.
March 24th, 2025 at 6:06 pm
Great research, Joe ! I did not expect this result at all.
March 24th, 2025 at 6:25 pm
I see a lot of assumptions above.
My thoughts are:
• $14,000,000 may not be chump change to some, but to the Bucs, it is low risk… especially if it includes incentives.
• Not all teams are loyal to productive players. The Bucs have that in spades. The Eagles do not, obviously. And salary cap is not an excuses, because we faced cap issues too, but we somehow manage with a couple of exceptions.
• The Jets fans are among the worst…as demonstrated constantly.
• The quote of the excuse for low production is aboute the stupidest thing I’ve ever read. That guy should not have a job.
• At best, we end up with a short term guy who produces. We pay him more to stay if that’s the case next year.
• At worst, he’s a cheaper player who is a bridge for whoever we draft.
The Bucs had a bad reputation for a lot of years. Jason Licht has turned this team into a very classy organization. More and more players are learning this…Reddick is about to learn it too.
March 24th, 2025 at 6:46 pm
1 sack in 10 games, but how many snaps was that? Too lazy to the do research. .
March 24th, 2025 at 7:33 pm
Who cares.
He is better than what we have.
March 24th, 2025 at 8:22 pm
There’s risk in everything–JTS was making like $3.5 million a year, we pay Reddick an extra 10 or so to be better. Hopefully a LOT better
March 24th, 2025 at 8:24 pm
Philadelphia had lots of young pass rushers on the rise when they let Reddick go and one might surmise Reddick’s presence was helpful for the Jets’ youngster Will McDonald IV, who had a coming out year opposite Hassan. Hopefully we’ll see more sacks than he had last year plus lots more for Diaby, Kancey and Braswell. Can’t wait!
March 24th, 2025 at 11:18 pm
I wouldn’t say the move is low-risk, but it’s certainly not high risk. Also don’t forget the Bucs invested a 2nd rounder at edge in last years draft, and people shouldn’t write off Braswell at this point, at worst you play him assuming the Bucs don’t draft another edge guy high in this draft.
But clearly Reddick wasn’t happy with the way the Jets handled him last year, and it doesn’t seem like he was putting in a ton of effort for a team that was already out of contention early on.
This year, he’s getting probably half the salary he’d have gotten if he produced – and he’s running out of time to get a big payday – so he should be very motivated this season. Again, I like the pick-up, this isn’t last year with Gregory which was a lottery ticket in every way – this is a guy who has produced very recently and has ever reason to want to perform.
March 25th, 2025 at 12:13 pm
Jets were two squads last year.
They had the great defensive squad the early part of last year.
Look at all the defensive metrics with Robert Saleh at the helm. 255 yards per game.
Then they had the defensive squad after Saleh was fired.
The players stopped playing — or maybe the coaching was that bad.
Either is not acceptable but there was clearly a paradigm shift of stats and success.
So when Reddick joined the team, was he able to get the successful Jets culture on defense back. The answer is a clear no.
Blame his lack of stats on him. That is fair. But I will go with the coaches assessment of his current ability over those that never watched Jet’s games and are just reading stats.