The Jets traded for a player who is unhappy with them already. And it’s their fault..

Hey guys, welcome to the Daily Dose. Wednesday, August 14th, 2024. Talking about a faux pas from the New York Football Jets that I want to explain to you what's happening. If you're following the news in the business of the NFL, a player they acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this offseason is Haason Reddick. He's a defensive edge lineman, which is a premium position. Those top guys, top pay rate is about $25 to $29 million a year for people like Joey Bosa and Kahlil Mack and Myles Garrett and some of these top edge rushers.

 Haason Reddick did a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, another team-friendly deal that they do, and he's only making, I say only, about $14-$15 million this year, which is, again, almost half of what the top guys are making at that position. So, Reddick wants to be paid more. He wants a new contract, and, allegedly, he's expressed that to the New York Jets upon their acquiring him earlier this offseason. So, the Jets acquired Reddick from the Eagles for a conditional third-round pick that turns to a second-round pick with certain performance levels. And right now, Reddick has not been in Jets camp. He has decided he's going to hold out, incur whatever penalties from holding out in protest of the fact the Jets have not upgraded his contract. This, to me, is a failure to communicate.

 What has happened here is the Jets seemed to have acquired Reddick, and it's a two-part negotiation with a player like that. You have to negotiate the trade terms with the Eagles. They did that. But they needed to negotiate the contract terms with the player. It seems like there's a lot left unsaid there, which is causing this problem. Did Reddick say that "I'm good with the contract, just trade for me. We're all good"? Doesn't seem likely the way he's acting now. Did the Jets say, "Let's just do the trade, then we'll talk about the contract"? That's fine, but that is an implicit promise to do something about the contract. My sense is it was a lot left unsaid, which is causing the problem now. So, now, they have a player that has yet to play for them, is already unhappy with them, and, ultimately, he'll be there because he's got nowhere else to go.

 This is the problem with the business of football for players: There's no options unless you play another sport or want to do something else. But he's coming in with a negative attitude towards the team. And listen, I try not to dress down anyone. I've worked with all these people. I understand the business of the NFL is hard, but the Jets have lost the leverage game a couple times here. A year ago, they traded a first-round pick swap, two high second-round picks to the Packers for Aaron Rodgers. He was never going to play for the Packers again and there was no other team interested. That's a lot to give up with those circumstances. Now, they trade a third-round pick, which could become a second for a player that doesn't want to be there because they never addressed the contract.

 When you acquire a player in the last year of his contract, make sure the contract is satisfied. This is what's going on with Brandon Aiyuk and the 49ers. If he's traded, he will have a new contract from someone because that'll be part of the trade negotiations to also have a new contract. Reddick's got a problem. It was the Eagles' problem. It's traded to the Jets. It's now their problem, and we'll see how it turns out. But the Jets could have handled this at the time of the trade and they didn't. Bad news for them. Alright guys, have a good day. I'll talk to you later.