Haason Reddick trade grades: Jets acquire Eagles pass rusher in exchange for conditional draft pick

The New York Jets are bolstering their pass-rushing unit. The club has agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles on a trade to acquire All-Pro linebacker Haason Reddick, according to CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones. In exchange for Reddick, Philadelphia will receive a conditional draft pick in 2026. Per Jones, it is currently a third-round selection but can become a second-rounder if Reddick plays 67.5% of the defensive snaps in 2024 and has 10-plus sacks.

A trade out of Philly has been looming over Reddick throughout the offseason, particularly with the 29-year-old entering the final year of his contract. For 2024, Reddick is set to make a base salary of $14.25 million and has a $21.8 million cap charge. The Jets will take on $14.5 million of Reddick’s total compensation for 2024 while the Eagles will foot the bill on his $1 million roster bonus that was due earlier this month, per NFL Media. The Eagles had given Reddick permission to seek a trade earlier this offseason, and the writing appeared to be on the wall for his departure after the team restructured Josh Sweat’s contract and signed fellow pass rusher Bryce Huff in free agency.

Speaking of Huff, his departure from the Jets this offseason is what created the hole that is now being filled by Reddick, so this is a roundabout swap between these two franchises. 

Reddick entered the league as the No. 13 overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Temple. He played four seasons with the club before having a one-year stint with the Carolina Panthers before landing in Philadelphia. With the Eagles is where Reddick blossomed into a premier pass rusher, earning back-to-back Pro Bowl nods over the past two seasons as well as second-team All-Pro honors in 2022. 

Here are our instant grades for the deal: 

Eagles: A

Overall, this is a pretty even swap between these two Super Bowl contenders. Philadelphia gains a slight edge in this trade if we look at the totality of what led us to the deal. The club signed Bryce Huff to a three-year deal earlier in free agency, which is what made Reddick expendable and created a need at pass rusher in New York. The Eagles got younger at the position with Huff set to enter his age-26 season and Reddick entering his age-30 season, while not sacrificing dramatically from a talent standpoint. While Reddick is more decorated throughout his career, Huff has developed into a strong pass rusher, who is coming off a career-year 10-sack season in 2023. 

As for the trade itself, it’s conceivable this turns into a second-rounder. Reddick has topped 10-plus sacks in each of his past four seasons and has proven to be an every-down player, notching at least 74% of the defensive snaps in each of the past four years as well. So, if you look at it as the Eagles getting Huff and (at worst) a third-rounder in 2026 for Reddick, that’s quite a return. 

Jets: A-

While we have the Eagles technically “winning” this deal by a hair, the Jets have landed on their feet quite nicely by acquiring Reddick, who is one of the more underrated pass rushers in the league. He slots into Huff’s role as an ideal replacement and — for 2024 — should prove to be the superior player. It’s also a relatively low-risk move for the Jets in terms of the draft capital they gave up. Reddick is only signed through this season and if the team can’t extend him, they would get a compensatory pick in return for him. 

Reddick also jives with New York’s “win now” mode that they find themselves in with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. The club has made a series of short-term deals this offseason to bolster their chances of hoisting a Lombardi Trophy and Reddick is the latest chess piece to move. A pass-rushing rotation of Reddick, Jermaine Johnson II, Will McDonald IV, and John Franklin-Myers is downright scary. The uncertain future beyond 2024 and the possible cost of a second-rounder is what prevents this from drawing even with Philly in the grade department, but this fills a drastic need with a top-tier talent.