Could Be A Bargain
March 23rd, 2025
Bargain.
So did the Bucs hit a home run with Haason Reddick by giving a guy who had 50.5 sacks from 2020-2023 a prove-it deal? Only time will tell. But a numbers guy from the four-letter sure likes it.
BSPN is looking back at all the top free agent signings. And Seth Walder — a man who never met a number he didn’t like — really likes that the Bucs got one of the best pass rushers in the game, one year removed from dominating the league, for only $12 million guaranteed.
Grade: B+
The Bucs had a major need for an edge rusher who could generate pressure and decided to roll the dice on Reddick. It’s an upside play, and I think it’s one worth making.
Reddick is coming off a lost season with the Jets in which he held out until Oct. 20 before playing 10 games. He recorded just a single sack and managed a wildly disappointing 12% pass rush win rate — a dramatic departure from his past.
It’s fully possible we were seeing the beginning of Reddick’s decline. After all, he’s 30 years old, which is the wrong side of the curve for an edge rusher. Or Reddick just wasn’t in the place he needed to be to produce after missing the offseason, training camp and first seven weeks of the season. The latter scenario is plenty plausible.
The good news for the Bucs? They don’t have to pay that much to find out — only $14 million. And they’re the sort of team that should make this risk. They’ve made the playoffs all three seasons under Todd Bowles but must have some breaks go their way to make a deep run.
If Reddick gets back to the player he was — he was a 22% PRWR player with 11.0 sacks as recently as 2023 — he’ll be an absolute bargain for the Bucs.
This is a key question for Joe: Reddick’s age. Joe wishes he could find it but a statgeek of some import had a graphic on Twitter that showed how dramatically most edge rushers fall off the cliff when they hit 30.
It seemed only the elite still had quarterbacks shatting their pants after they reached the grand old age of 30. And even for those guys, Father Time was a brutal taskmaster.
That pass rush win-rate for Reddick last year? It is wild how much he dropped off. Joe sure hopes that was because Reddick wasn’t used right and/or missing all offseason workouts put him in a bind from which he couldn’t properly bounce back
March 23rd, 2025 at 11:11 am
Hoping his body is fairly rested from less banging last year. We need a thumper.
March 23rd, 2025 at 11:14 am
Tip-off in one Hour!
March 23rd, 2025 at 11:40 am
Was used right? Missing an off season? How bout because he didn’t like his contract and quit on his team that sounds more like it to me . And hasn’t this site been pushing the idea of drafting Campbell at #19 knowing he most likely will miss the off season and maybe the start of the season. Quitters never win and winners never quit.
March 23rd, 2025 at 11:44 am
OK,OK,OK……let’s see how he plays
March 23rd, 2025 at 12:08 pm
How do measure win rate for a guy whose coach will have him dropping into empty zones?
March 23rd, 2025 at 12:21 pm
Whew..
Not sure how many ways the same thing can be written, and rewritten, and rewritten.
See ya after the draft.
March 23rd, 2025 at 12:43 pm
Welcome to the offseason.
Surely you don’t expect Joe to shut down the site for the offseason, do you? Not too many successful businesses shut the lights off for eight months a year.
March 23rd, 2025 at 1:33 pm
I look forward each day to reading any article herein about the Bucs! Reply’s not so much. Keep them coming Joes!
March 23rd, 2025 at 2:06 pm
Forget last season. It was a wash. Double digits this year.
March 23rd, 2025 at 2:19 pm
I kinda like reading the comments. I don’t watch college so I get a little more insight.
March 23rd, 2025 at 3:46 pm
I don’t think Reddit quit last year, he was looking to stay with his team instead traded to a team he did not want to go to who did not want to pay him and who do not want to use him for his talents. His first few years for the Cardinals is an example of misusing his talents until they found out where he was good, no great. Couple all of that into having to move having to get reoriented new place house City team missing the bonding time of training camp and etc. But he still suited up and he still went out and played I don’t hear anybody saying it looks like he was trying to quit on the field it just he never got his rhythm with that team and that team was a circus last year. Here’s to new beginnings, and the beginning of a new season let’s go bucks
March 23rd, 2025 at 4:03 pm
I think Joe is taking it a bit personally because some of us needle him over his attempts to keep us informed during this halcyon news cycle. He reamed me a new one for making fun of the worthiness of Howie Long’s offspring.
Lighten up, Joe. We know this is a hard time for you.
We (at least most of us) don’t mean anything by it. We realize you bust your ass during the season and empathize with the crumbs you’re left to write about during this void before the draft.
So, I say we all band together and collectively submit this story, ‘Could Be a Bargain’ to the Pulitzer Committee for consideration.
Don’t laugh; ‘Jimmy’s World’ won in 1981 and ‘Jimmy,’ the eight year old protagonist junkie, never existed. At least this story is truthful.
See Joe(s), we got your back(s). If we didn’t we wouldn’t be reading …
March 23rd, 2025 at 4:51 pm
The 2024 Jets fired their head coach AND their gm. The team was/is a dumpster fire. I would absolutely blame last seasons lack of production totally on the Jets.
March 23rd, 2025 at 5:03 pm
Doubt Reddick will be a hall-of-famer. I hope he is not a quitter. We shall see.
March 23rd, 2025 at 5:19 pm
The offseason is about 4 months more or less, Joe.
All due respect but considering the layer after layer of ads that have proliferated on this site, you might actually be able to take a vacation.
Just sayin.
March 23rd, 2025 at 6:19 pm
BayouBullet Says
“Was used right? Missing an off season? How bout because he didn’t like his contract and quit on his team that sounds more like it to me.”
It wasn’t about his contract. It was the fact that he was traded against his wishes to a crap team.
March 23rd, 2025 at 6:20 pm
We better draft a good pass rusher this draft…because if this guy does well, we won’t be able to afford his contract next year.
March 23rd, 2025 at 7:22 pm
Could be a bargain could be a bust only time will tell.
March 23rd, 2025 at 8:04 pm
but can he cover?
March 23rd, 2025 at 10:13 pm
Teamwork. 3-4-5 studs make the line work. It matters not where the glory goes if the job gets done. It makes blitzes that much more effective. Watching our edge rushers drop into coverage and get burned by tight ends makes me wish that Coach Bowles would learn from his idiotic mistakes that he tends to repeat, rinse and repeat. And still not work. Ten thousand reasons or excuses will not make this work. It’s ridiculous and complete garbage.
March 23rd, 2025 at 10:16 pm
A great coach learns from the mistakes of others. A good coach learns from his mistakes. Our Coach? He well uhhhhhh like uhhhhh. I got nothin.
March 23rd, 2025 at 10:59 pm
Definitely a good signing. Didn’t have to give up any picks and get a one year prove it deal. It would still be good to draft one somewhere just in case he moves on next year.
March 23rd, 2025 at 11:49 pm
Joe, I think having Vita Vea and Kancy in the middle causing disruption will help Reddick get home off the edge. He will have motivation too. Seems optimistic.
March 24th, 2025 at 12:30 am
I think it was all to do with the circumstances he was in. He is in a perfect situation with Tampa. They have probably the best DT duo in the NFL, what more can an edge rusher want?
YAYA did great with pressure and QB hits, but did not close the deal on Sacks.
With those DT’s and Reddick on the other side, he is going to see single coverage 19 times out of 20. I fully expect him to be double digit sack guy this year.
March 24th, 2025 at 4:35 am
Love reading about Reddick and think he could be a bargain. Getting the feeling by reading between the lines that he is really excited to be on the Bucs and will show us too. Looking forward to seeing how well he does. Go Bucs!
March 24th, 2025 at 7:34 am
Or he was worried he night get hurt playing for a team he just screwed over and might ruin his next payday plan?
He mailed it in Joe. I will watch this dude closely. If he pulls even one Diva is bored play I will lose it.
Go Bucs!
March 24th, 2025 at 9:46 am
JOE thank you for the articles. Keeps the dim light on during the offseason.