Joe Douglas needs to solve Jets Haason Reddick mess before its too late
Joe Douglas sat quietly in the second row of the press box Sunday, watching his team eke out its first win of the season — a 24-17 three-hour stress test against the Titans at Nissan Stadium.The worst of what Douglas witnessed was Jermaine Johnson, the best edge rusher on the team, being lost for the season with an Achilles injury he suffered in the third quarter.The sight of Johnson being carted off the field had to leave a sickening knot in Douglas’ stomach.Hopefully, it spurred him to make a call Sunday night or Monday to Haason Reddick’s agent, Tory Dandy, in an effort to end the stubborn nonsense that’s become the story of the pass rusher’s bizarre holdout from the team.The Jets needed Reddick, for whom they traded on March 29 in exchange for a conditional 2026 third-round pick from the Eagles, before Johnson was injured.They need him more now.The first two Jets games have provided Reddick with a boost in leverage as they were able to generate little in the way of a pass rush on San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy in a lopsided season-opening loss and then the Johnson injury.This doesn’t mean Douglas must cave to Reddick’s every demand — whatever exactly those are.But it does mean he needs to press the accelerator on trying to find a compromise.It means calling Dandy and finding a middle ground — whatever that is.Because no one’s winning here.
Not the Jets.Not Reddick.
They’re all losing.The Jets are losing out on Reddick’s elite pass-rushing skills that could put them over the edge in their title chase.And Reddick is losing money.
A lot of money.He’s forfeiting about $800,000 in salary for every game he misses.According to ESPN, if Reddick holds out all year, it will cost him approximately $21.75 million — his $14.25 million base salary, $4.5 million in fines and another $3 million in bonus forfeiture.This stalemate got acrimonious Aug.
12 when Reddick requested that the Jets trade him and Douglas quickly shot back with a publ...