Haason Reddick and the New York Jets continue to dig in their heels. The current consensus around the league is that the stalemate will end in a trade. If that happens, the rules surrounding Reddick’s holdout will become moot points for Jets fans.
However, unless and until that happens, there are still questions swirling about the ramifications of the holdout. When must Reddick report? What happens if he does not? How much money has he lost in fines, and how much of that could the Jets waive if he reports?
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Roster and contract implications
The Jets can keep Reddick on the Reserve/Did Not Report list indefinitely without losing a 53-man roster spot. The key issue in this situation is whether Reddick’s contract will expire after the season. At what point will his contract toll, keeping him under contract with the Jets next year?
There has been some speculation that Reddick would need to play six games for his contract to expire. That is the number of games a player must be rostered to accrue a season (whether on the 53-man roster, injured reserve, or PUP list). Accrued seasons matter for free agency status and veteran minimum salaries.
However, Reddick’s holdout falls under a different section of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Although the exact rules are unclear, Appendix A, Section 16 of the CBA reads as follows:
16. EXTENSION. Unless this contract specifically provides otherwise, if Player… fails or refuses to perform his services under this contract, then this contract will be tolled between the date of Player’s… failure or refusal to perform, and the later date of his return to professional football. During the period this contract is tolled, Player will not be entitled to any compensation or benefits. On Player’s return to professional football, the term of this contract will be extended for a period of time equal to the number of seasons (to the nearest multiple of one) remaining at the time the contract was tolled. The right of renewal, if any, contained in this contract will remain in effect until the end of any such extended term.
The wording of this section is very confusing, but the words “to the nearest multiple of one” may explain how a holdout works. With 18 weeks in the season, a player must have been rostered for at least 50% of the season for that year, or 9 games, for the year to count. Otherwise, the contract will toll for another year.
This means Reddick must report by Week 10 to become a free agent next season. That coincides perfectly with the NFL trade deadline, which is the Tuesday after Week 9’s games. In other words, it is right around that time that this standstill will likely resolve itself: either Reddick will report, or the Jets will trade him. It would be foolish of Joe Douglas to retain Reddick when he could likely get something more for the edge rusher in a trade with a contender desperate for pass-rush help.
(Note: the NFLPA advises players to return at the trade deadline because of some roster machinations teams can use, namely asking the commissioner for a two-week roster exemption for a player who held out, which would then cause the contract to toll.)
According to former NFL agent Joel Corry, “The NFLPA has also expressed belief that the deadline for teams to sign their unsigned franchise and transition players, draft picks and restricted free agents, which is the Tuesday following the 10th week of the season, also applies to holdouts. After this date, which is Nov. 12 this year, these players are prohibited from playing for the rest of the season. It remains to be seen whether returning at this deadline would be sufficient to prevent a contract from tolling.”
In other words, the NFLPA believes that if Reddick does not report by November 12, he will not be allowed to return at all this season. That would include a potential postseason run.
Money lost
Reddick was fined $2.05 million total for missing training camp. He lost an additional $2.375 million for missing the Jets’ three preseason games. This total of $4.425 million cannot be waived for players who signed as unrestricted free agents, which Reddick did.
According to Corry, the Jets are exercising their rights to recover a prorated portion of Reddick’s signing bonus. Even though the Eagles traded Reddick to the Jets and thus paid Reddick his signing bonus, the Jets have all rights under the contract that the Eagles would have had. Therefore, since Reddick had a $13.715 million signing bonus and signed a three-year contract with two void years, the 2024 proration of the signing bonus would be $2.743 million ($13.715 million ÷ 5).
The Jets recouped 25% of that, or $685,750, for Reddick missing training camp. They recouped another $685,750 once Reddick missed the Week 1 game. They can continue to recoup 1/18th of that $2.743 million, or $152,389, for every week Reddick misses past Week 4. The maximum the Jets can recoup is the full $2.743 million of the 2024 prorated portion of his signing bonus. In other words, in addition to the fines, Reddick has already lost another $1.3715 million in signing bonus money. The Jets could potentially waive these recoupments and return the money to Reddick if and when he reports.
This does not include the game checks Reddick has lost, currently totaling $2.375 million. In other words, as of the end of Week 3’s games, Reddick has currently lost $10.2215 million, plus the additional $250,000 workout bonus he forfeited by not showing up to OTAs. His total salary this year was $14.25 million, and $4.425 million in fines plus $2.375 million in-game checks are forever lost to him.
Previous holdouts
Corry went through six previous holdouts since the 2011 CBA and how they were resolved.
- S Kam Chancellor, Seahawks (2015): returned after Week 2 with no contract adjustment
- OT Duane Brown, Texans (2017): returned after Week 7 with no contract adjustment; traded a week later
- RB Le’Veon Bell, Steelers (2018): Bell’s holdout was different because he had not signed the franchise tag and thus was not obligated to report; he sat out the full season and hit the free-agent market.
- RB Melvin Gordon, Chargers (2019): lasted until Week 4; declined $10 million per year offer during holdout and returned without a contract adjustment
- OT Trent Williams, Commanders (2019): holdout was for financial reasons but also poor medical care when he had cancerous growth removed; returned the day after the trade deadline with no contract adjustment; placed on non-football injury list a week after return due to failed physical
- DT Chris Jones, 49ers (2023): returned before Week 2; Chiefs added $5.5 million in performance escalators
In other words, most of the players involved in holdouts did not get what they wanted. Some of these players managed to force trades (Williams and Brown), but none of them got the contracts they wanted when and how they wanted them. That seems likely to happen to Reddick, as well.
Did Reddick fire his agent?
Aaron Rodgers seemingly “let slip” on The Pat McAfee Show that Reddick may have fired his agent. He did so when saying the report that an unnamed agent called the Jets’ culture toxic “sounds like it was written by Haason Reddick’s agent.” Rodgers added, “Former agent, possibly.”
Tory Dandy of CAA is (or was) Reddick’s agent. He successfully negotiated CeeDee Lamb’s four-year, $136 million contract extension after Lamb held out of training camp. He did the same for Brandon Aiyuk and helped Patrick Surtain reset the cornerback market. His other high-profile clients (or at least clients for whom he is one of the agents) include Denzel Ward, Chris Godwin, Deebo Samuel, D.K. Metcalf, A.J. Brown (who received an extension of his own this offseason), and Marshon Lattimore.
The Jets worked with Dandy this offseason, as he is Mike Williams’ agent. Perhaps not coincidentally, Dandy is Elijah Moore’s agent, too.
There is endless speculation about the thought process of Reddick and his agent. One theory is that Dandy told Reddick his holdout is counterproductive, which may have caused Reddick to fire his agent. A possible counterpoint is that Reddick fired Dandy for convincing him to dig in his heels, costing him a tremendous amount of money that he may never be able to recoup.
Ultimately, knowing Rodgers, it seems more likely than not that he was either needling Reddick and his agent or speculating based on what he would do if he received such bad advice from his own agent. Either way, it doesn’t seem to matter much; Reddick would find a way to get back on the field if he wanted to with Dandy or any other agent. This continued stance is likely coming from him as much as (if not more than) from his agent.
Most likely resolution
If the Jets do not come to any agreement with Reddick this week, and there is no indication they will, a trade still seems like the most likely outcome. It would be counterproductive for Joe Douglas to hold on to Reddick if he won’t play for the Jets. The only way to salvage anything is to trade Reddick for whatever meager return would be possible.
If Reddick still wants a trade, he would likely need to report beforehand (a la Duane Brown), which would give the Jets some measure of leverage in trade talks. It’s highly unlikely they’d ever be able to get back anything close to the conditional third-round pick they gave up for him.
Many around the league believe Reddick will be traded. It’s hard to see this going down any other way at this point. He’s already lost so much money that waiting a few more weeks will hardly be significant for him. He’s dug in on principle more than money at this point.
In the interim, this standstill will likely last at least until the trade deadline. New York Jets fans, don’t expect to see Haason Reddick anytime soon.
