New Buc Haason Reddick ready for fresh start after ‘weird’ year with Jets
TAMPA — As any elite pass rusher knows, no matter who or what gets in the way, you must keep moving forward.
So if you ask Haason Reddick about his holdout, or the disappointing season after being traded from the Eagles to the Jets last year, he doesn’t stay on the subject very long.
“Very bizarre,” Reddick said of his 2024 season. “Weird.”
“It’s just a fresh start. I know everybody is worried about last year, but last year is last year,” he said Friday. “I’m here now. Different mindset. Different space. Just ready to put the past behind me and continue to move forward, and what better place to do it than here?”
What happened after Reddick was dealt to the Jets — holding out of organized team activities, minicamp, training camp and the first seven games while demanding a new contract that never came — led him to Tampa Bay.
It led him back to some familiar faces, such as outside linebackers coach Larry Foote, who coached him as a rookie first-round pick in Arizona in 2017. It led him to Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, another New Jersey guy who also played at Temple.
Reddick’s one-year, $14 million contract may be below market value for a player who, from 2020-23, was among the NFL’s best pass rushers with 50.5 sacks. But both Reddick and the Bucs agreed that he could bring the one element the Bucs may be missing to make a deeper run in the playoffs and reach a Super Bowl.
“Just the fit,” Reddick said. “After talking to Footey, after talking to Coach Bowles, just their plan for using me here. That was very intriguing, something I really needed. Outside of that, I felt this was a team that was a couple of short pieces away. I felt like I could come bring my knowledge, bring my abilities, blend with the guys that are already here. You’ve got great pieces. You’ve got Vita (Vea), you’ve got the young guy, Yaya (Diaby). So just knowing I could come here and help out. I thought it would be fun.”
Foote stood in the back of the interview room Friday, wearing a permanent grin.
When Reddick arrived in Arizona as a rookie, he was an inside linebacker. In fact, Reddick speaks about his career as if he has had two of them: three years at inside linebacker, five years at outside linebacker.
But his journey began long before he dreamed of playing in the NFL or becoming one of the league’s most feared pass rushers.
It began with a great athlete walking on a Temple, knowing his family could not afford to keep him there unless he was good enough to earn a scholarship after his first year there.
“Kind of like we’re going to call this a comeback season because of what he went through last year,” Foote said. “But he was a walk-on at Temple. And, ‘I don’t want to mess up.’ I don’t know whether it was his grandmother or mother, but they couldn’t pay all four years. One year, you better earn your scholarship or you won’t be there. I think he was hurt. Never played outside linebacker so they moved him around.
“You see the type of attitude and mindset that he has for the game so I’m not going to be surprised if he destroys the league next year.”
Reddick made it clear that Foote is a big reason why he chose the Bucs in free agency to restart his career.
“The connection. Just how he helped me grow as a young player out in Arizona,” Reddick said of Foote. “The time and attention he took. He understood my situation, right? A kid coming into the league, having never played inside linebacker before. Somebody who was able to do it the way he did in his career, he understood that.
“And like I said, his effort, his approach, everything he gave me. A lot of that stuff stuck with me and allowed me to continue to grow as a player moving forward. So to reconnect with him, maybe it will be me teaching him some things this time around.”
The Bucs' biggest need was for a player who could come off the edge and create pressure and sacks on the quarterback.
After leading the Bucs with 7.5 sacks as a rookie, Diaby took a step backward and finished with only 4.5 last season, the result of having to adjust to all the double teams and chip blocking from tight ends and running backs.
Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, the Bucs' first-round pick in 2021, never really panned out and just signed a one-year deal with the Browns. Reddick should make getting to the quarterback much easier with the four down linemen instead of having the blitz.
“To be honest, I think it’s going to make everybody’s job easier,” Reddick said. “As a D-line, it has to be unit that works together. Vita is a force in the middle. Nobody can mistake that. Great power, a pocket presser and just an all-around physical talent. But with what I’m able to bring? They won’t be able to double me every time. It’s one of those things where everything should open up and when it’s your time? You’ve just got to make the play.”
The Bucs believe that Reddick will be hungry to prove that he can get back to the top of the mountain as a dominant pass rusher. He also could have another big pay day. Myles Garrett will make an average of $40 million in Cleveland. The Raiders' Maxx Crosby will earn $35.5 million. The 49ers' Nick Bosa is paid $34 million per year.
How anxious is Reddick to prove he belongs in that company?
“Very anxious. I feel like maybe some people had fell asleep,” he said. “But if anything, moreso for myself. I’m just happy to be in a great place and back to be able to play football and enjoy it the way I have done most of my career.”
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