PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Haason Reddick is coming home.
The new Eagles edge rusher reportedly agreed to a three-year, $45 million contract, with $30 million guaranteed that can reach a maximum of $49.5 million.
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Reddick grew up in Camden and played at Temple University, and he’s had quite the journey to a multi-million dollar NFL contract.
“As far as small towns, this just goes to show if you can play, people are going to find you,” said Ralph Schiavo, Reddick’s high school football coach at Haddon Heights. “You’re going to get to go to college, and then from college, who knows?”
Schiavo knows that firsthand. In addition to Reddick, he coached Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Flacco at Audubon.
Reddick had injuries during his junior and senior high seasons, significantly limiting his reps.
“For a kid who probably had less than probably 100 snaps in his career [before college], to be where he’s at now is just phenomenal,” Schiavo noted.
He had to walk on to Temple and then change positions in order to thrive. And he did — all the way to a first-round pick for the Arizona Cardinals in 2017.
Schiavo described Reddick as humble and a leader. He was a part of a senior group at Haddon Heights that bought into Schiavo’s new coaching staff when they first arrived.
Tim O’Donnell, the current athletic trainer at Haddon Heights, said the school was abuzz on Monday.
“In the hallway, my phone starts blowing up and it’s text after text after text, and I just hear screaming in the hallway,” he said.
Teachers and other coaches were thrilled.
“He’s got so many people in his corner and he’s back,” he added. “He’s back.”
Schiavo believes Reddick will help the Eagles “tremendously.”
“As an edge rusher, I would hope they don’t get them out of position like the Cardinals did his first year playing inside linebacker. But as an edge rusher, him and the other guys — [Josh] Sweat and Brandon Graham, when he comes back from his injury — I have to have faith that they’re going to use them the right way.”