Florham Park, NJ May 31, 2023 -- General manager Joe Douglas and owner Woody Johnson during the Jets OTA.
Jets GM Joe Douglas is in a bind, and he needs the green light from Jets ownership to write the check that will get him out of it. Douglas needs Haason Reddick in the building at 1 Jets Drive ASAP following Jermaine Johnson’s season-ending injury that he suffered against the Tennessee Titans.
Reddick’s ugly holdout has resulted in $8 million in fines up to this point. Those fines could climb to $21 million if he were to hold out for the entire season, but that can’t be allowed to happen.
We won’t pretend to have any inside info that tells us ownership has been refusing to pay Reddick, but reading the tea leaves suggests just that.
After all, it’s not Joe Douglas’ money to worry about. The GM is trying to save his job this season. In an effort to do that, he traded for Reddick. He knew Reddick wanted a new deal and had apparently agreed to discuss a new contract if Reddick had showed up to work. His understanding was the Reddick was on board with the plan.
As you know by now, Reddick was not okay with the plan, did not show up to work, and has not received a new contract.
With his job on the line, a defensive-minded head coach, Johnson injured and being down a couple of edge players in Bryce Huff and John Franklin-Myers, Douglas has every motivation to get a deal done. Even with that being the case, not only is Reddick not in the building, but the sides aren’t even talking. That has to change.
In looking at the deals the Jets gave out this season, almost all being of the 1-year variety, it does feel as if ownership is setting up for a potential house-cleaning if the team should miss the playoffs yet again. This would suggest they’re not in favor of handing out muti-year deals for big money.
If that’s the case, an exception has to be made. Give Douglas the green light to make an offer to Reddick in hopes of getting him in the building yesterday.