Trade demands happen, but usually not under the circumstances fans are seeing with Haason Reddick. The outside linebacker was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles this past offseason. Usually, it's appropriate to then indicate which team he was traded to. However, that would be inaccurate in this case. In late June, ESPN's Rich Cimini indicated that the contract talks were allegedly agreed to be put on hold.
This makes sense. The player wanted to leave his former franchise due to not seeing eye to eye, so he sought a new destination. Customarily, at this point, the old contract is absorbed and the new one is negotiated at a different time. According to the article, the New York Jets believed that a negotiation would still take place but that it wouldn't amount to a sticking point.
The organization was under the assumption that the former Temple player would show up to the off-season workouts and to camp. In fact, an enhanced offer was made, but not one to the liking of the two-time pro bowler. But that was seen as an issue for another day. Furthermore, it was assumed that good favor had been gained by at least offering a reasonable option for the player to consider. Fast forward to the middle of August, and an official trade demand has been made public.
Again, according to ESPN's Rich Cimini, the trade demand came from the player, and GM Joe Douglas immediately offered a response:
We have informed Haason that we will not trade him, that he is expected to be here with his teammates, and that he will continue to be fined per the CBA if he does not report. The fines have amassed in the range of a million dollars.
Moreover, these are penalties that have to be enforced, and the language is very clear in the lack of wiggle room. Regardless of how this ends up playing out, it shows an overall lack of understanding and ineptitude from both sides. The issue stems from both parties having unequal expectations. For the athlete, he feels that a pay raise is due. The basis of this claim and desire is due to his production. Admittedly, this is something that the stats bear out.
Negotiations for Haason Reddick
He is a top producer on the defensive end and is among the league leaders in key categories like sacks and forced fumbles. For the Jets, they believed that the disgruntled player was acting from a place of genuine desire to get along. And while they may have offered a deal at that moment, they should have insisted, at least staying at the negotiation table a little longer.
It's clear that if the deal was that far away from his perceived worth, then it was something that should have been addressed more directly in the early months of the offseason. In other words, since the defender wasn't really to accept their initial offer after being traded, there wasn't a reason to believe that the situation wouldn't become a holdout or ultimatum in one form or another.
Particularly after being exchanged for a third-rounder, it makes sense for the athlete to say whatever needs to be said at the moment. As a newcomer, typically the goal is to prevent creating too many waves. But when the source of contention with the previous organization was unable to be solved on the first attempt, then that should have raised alarm bells.
Granted, few could have expected it to spiral out of control like this. But now the New York front office is scrambling to do damage control and trying to look in control of this situation. Meanwhile, Hassan Reddick continues to rack up a bill for not showing up, all of which could have been avoided had foresight and long-term thinking been utilized.
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