Jets beat writer: Haason Reddick ‘wouldn’t mind going back to Philadelphia’
Reddick requested a trade from the Jets and hasn’t played for them, while Bryce Huff has been invisible for the Eagles as a pass rusher.
During the 2024 offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles traded Haason Reddick to the New York Jets, and signed Jets free agent Bryce Huff to a three-year deal worth $51 million. It was a swap of edge rushers, even if the two players weren’t technically traded for each other.
The swap hasn’t worked out for either team so far. Reddick held out throughout the entirety of Jets training camp and has missed each of their first three games. Huff has played 80 snaps for the Eagles, and has 1 tackle (0 solo tackles). In the Eagles’ Week 3 win in New Orleans, Huff was relegated to situational pass rusher status, playing just 18 snaps, or 32 percent of the team’s defensive stats. He has been a liability against the run, and invisible as a pass rusher.
A common solution to the lack of an edge rush among many Eagles fans? Bring Reddick back via trade!
According to Jets beat writer Rich Cimini of ESPN via his “Flight Deck” podcast (the 9/25/24 podcast here), Reddick “wouldn’t mind getting traded back to the Eagles.” Cimini’s words:
“Bryce Huff, probably one of the more disappointing free agents in the NFL right now, and get this, 77 snaps right now on defense (#JimmyNote: it’s 80, but whatever), only 1 tackle, 0 pressures, 0 quarterback hits, 0 sacks. So essentially, he’s done in 77 snaps (again, 80) what Haason Reddick has done with no snaps, which is nothing. I don’t think that’s an indictment on Huff. I mean, we know he’s a good player, and so I do believe the Jets made a mistake by letting him go. It’s just that he’s not a good fit in the Eagles’ system. And clearly Vic Fangio, their defensive coordinator has not embraced Huff. And so that’s on the Eagles. They screwed up that signing. They’ve taken a good player and they’re misusing him.
“Could he get traded to the Jets? Let’s put it this way. A little birdie told me that Reddick I don’t think would be opposed to something like that. I think Reddick is so frustrated with the Jets’ situation — of course he did request a trade in August — that he wouldn’t mind going back to Philadelphia. Again, heard it from a little birdie. Take it for what it’s worth. Could that trade happen? Reddick for Huff? Boy, that would be one of the more bizarre trades in NFL history. A lot of things would have to fall into place, which makes it kind of far-fetched, but it’s an interesting situation to look at nonetheless.”
To begin, yes, it certainly appears that the Eagles made a bad signing when they gave Huff $17 million per year, but the idea that Huff’s poor play “is not an indictment on Huff” is, uh, simply wrong? He has done nothing well.
Reddick’s reported desire to be traded back to Philly isn’t surprising. At some point he’s going to have to play for the Jets, or his current contract — which, of course, he is unhappy with — wouldn’t expire until after the 2025 season when it is currently scheduled to expire after 2024. There’s a more detailed explainer on his contract situation via CBS’ Joel Corry here. Including the playoffs, Reddick had 30.5 sacks and 6 forced fumbles in his two seasons with the Eagles. If he has to report without a new contract at some point anyway, his desire to do so with the Eagles rather than the Jets would make sense.
A trade for Reddick maybe isn’t that crazy, however, should that scenario play out, it almost certainly would not include Huff, as that would result in a substantial amount of dead money on the Eagles’ cap.
