Last year was a forgettable one for former Eagles pass rushers playing for the Jets and former Jets pass rushers playing for the Eagles. Specifically, Haason Reddick and Bryce Huff. Each had a season to forget in their new home and subsequently moved on after one ill-fated year. The question I want to get to the bottom of though is, which move was worse? Let’s put to the side that Huff won a Super Bowl ring (no thanks to him) and get to the bottom of it.
Preseason Week 3: Eagles at Jets, 7:30pm
at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ
Eagles Sign Bryce Huff
On March 11, 2024, the Eagles signed free agent Bryce Huff to a 3/$51m contract. In his previous life with the Jets, Huff managed 10 sacks in 2023 despite not starting a single game. Known as just a pass rush specialist, Huff only played more than 50% of the defensive snaps in 3 games (he was dead on 50% twice more) topping out at 55%. The Eagles thought they were getting a budding sack artist who could easily justify more responsibility and playing time but could add some real juice to the pass rush at worst. Oh boy.
Things got off on the wrong foot almost immediately. New defensive coordinator Vic Fangio gave reports out of training camp that Huff simply wasn’t getting it. Not only was he completely unable to learn anything new, but he seemed to be forgetting the skills that got him the contract in the first place. He started the season playing about the same number of snaps he had with the Jets but with none of the production. Even that eventually disappeared. By November, he was down to 20% of possible snaps and eventually had surprise surgery. Despite coming back by the end of the season, he was only active for 2 playoff games, didn’t enter either one, and didn’t dress for the Super Bowl. Despite being the team’s biggest free agent signing, he was a total non-factor on the season. He finished the year with 2.5 sacks, 2 of which came against the horrific offensive lines of the Giants and Cowboys.
Shockingly, Howie Roseman was able to find Huff a new home in San Francisco this summer. I thought we would have to give up draft picks to get rid of him, but in exchange for the Eagles paying off some of his bloated contract, SF is sending out a conditional 4th round pick. By making this deal, the Eagles save a little money on this year’s cap and pay a little more on next year’s but save $27m in cap in 2027.
Jets Trade for Haason Reddick
After a Defensive Player of the Year caliber first season in Philly, Reddick followed that up with a solid 11 sack season, but without the league leading 5 forced fumbles from the previous year. He had originally taken a discount to play in front of his hometown fans, but after 4 consecutive double digit sack seasons, Reddick made it known to the Eagles that he wanted a new deal. As a 30-year-old pass rusher though, the Eagles were not too keen on giving him the $20m+ per year that he wanted and he was threatening to hold out if he didn’t get it.
With Huff already in the fold, the writing was on the wall for Reddick and the Eagles. On March 29, 2024, the Eagles traded him to the Jets for what turned out to be a 3rd round pick (but had been a conditional 2nd). The fundamental problem with the deal for the Jets was not working out a contract extension with Reddick before consummating the trade. They basically traded for the Eagles problem with no plan to solve it. Not a good idea. Reddick made good on his threat and held out through the first 7 games of the season. When he finally returned under a reworked contract that didn’t give him any more money but also didn’t assess him any fines, he was only able to put up 1 sack over the remaining 10 games.
With no extension, Reddick walked in the offseason landing a 1/$12-14m contract with Tampa. All was not completely lost though. Due to the size of the contract Reddick landed with the Bucs, the Jets are in line to receive a 4th round compensatory pick. Not a bad consolation for being completely incompetent.
Verdict
What’s worse, paying too much in cash or paying too much in draft equity? Neither team has really had to feel the punishment yet either with the Jets still owing the Eagles their pick and the Eagles still having to account for $16m in cap next season. The real winner here is Bryce Huff who not only received the contract that Reddick would have been happy to take but also the Super Bowl ring that Reddick surely covets. For Reddick, he is now in a place where he will get to show his skills and probably earn another solid deal while sleeping on his $14m pillow contract. He didn’t get the money up front with the Eagles like he wanted, but his pass rushing skills apparently keep their value on the open market. In the end, it is probably the Eagles who suffered most on these two transactions. The Jets are basically only losing 1.5 rounds of draft value for a very stupid move, but the Eagles are out cap space that they desperately need. We are still getting a 3rd and possibly a 4th round pick for our troubles though so it is not a total loss. Oh yeah, and we won the Super Bowl.
Philly Front Office 
Leave a comment