The dispute between Haason Reddick and the New York Jets could soon be coming to an end. The team has given Reddick permission to seek a trade, which means the disgruntled pass-rusher could soon be on his way out of New York.
Although the Jets are open to trading Reddick, there is one major detail that's throwing a wrench into things: The Jets can't easily trade him to an NFC team. According NFL insider Josina Anderson, if the Jets decided to ship Reddick off to an NFC team, they'd have to also send a 2026 second-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles, who dealt Reddick to the Jets in the offseason.
That means there are now 15 teams the Jets might be hesitant to trade with due to this stipulation (Due to NFL rules, the Jets aren't allowed to trade Reddick back to the Eagles, so only 15 of the 16 NFC teams could make a trade for him).
When the Jets originally made the trade for Reddick back in March, they sent a conditional 2026 third-round pick to the Eagles that would become a 2026 second-rounder if Reddick recorded 10 sacks or was on the field for 67.5% of the Jets' defensive plays. At this point, it's pretty clear that Reddick is not going to hit those conditions, but the Eagles still have a chance to see the third-round pick bumped up to a second-round pick, thanks to the rare clause that was included in the trade by Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman.
For the Jets, general manager Joe Douglas probably agreed to that part of the deal with the belief that there was no way it would be triggered, but seven months later, it's looking like it might happen. The Eagles decided to deal Reddick away because he wanted a new contract and after he got traded to New York, he clearly thought he was going to get a new deal from the Jets, but that hasn't happened, which has led to a long holdout that's cost him more than $5 million.
Reddick got fired by his agency last week, but now has a new agent after hiring Drew Rosenhaus. The well-known agent will now have his work cut out for him as he calls around the league to find a landing spot for Reddick.
The Jets are now stuck in a lose-lose situation: They can send Reddick to the NFC and lose a second-round pick or they can send him to the AFC and help a team that they might end up competing with for a playoff spot.