Haason Reddick in DC?
The NFL trade deadline is Halloween night, so there’s 16 days left for Adam Peters to make a move if he decides to reinforce the current Commanders squad for a playoff run no one outside of Ashburn would’ve predicted – and with defensive line and cornerback the team’s biggest needs, he could be looking at all angles on those spots.
Reddick is not a lineman, per se, but with Dorance Armstrong out indefinitely and Jon Allen out for the season inside, the Commanders could use a pass-rusher, and the Jets have allowed the disgruntled holdout’s new representation to seek a trade.
And that leads Brian Mitchell to Reddick, for whom he said the on-field juice is worth the locker room squeeze after a caller made the suggestion.
“That one right there, I'm listening. We haven’t had a consistent pass rusn to the quarterback for the past few years,” BMitch said. “He’s available, and I'll take a problem for the locker room if I can get that pass rush on the field."
Reddick has 50.5 sacks over the last four seasons, including a career-high 16 for Philly in 2022, and he has forced 13 fumbles in that span as well. However, he hasn’t seen the field this season due to a dispute with the Jets over his contract; New York sent a conditional third-rounder that could become a second to Philly to get Reddick, but he wants better than what the final year of the three-year, $45 million deal he signed with the Eagles prior to 2022 was going to pay him.
The Commanders have the cap space to sign Reddick longer-term (his cap hit is only $750K this year as it is due to the bonus structure of his deal), and even if they have to give up a Day 2 pick to get him – the conditions on the Jets-Eagles trade were based on playing time OR if Reddick is traded to an NFC team – they have a second and two thirds thanks to picking up an extra pick in the Jahan Dotson deal.
Dealing one of those picks, even the second, to the Jets to get a guy who can bolster a rush that has 17 sacks in six games, half of those by linebackers? Brian’s good, even if Jeff Walker and JP Finlay are wondering why no one else seems to be clamoring for him, and Rooster came in with a flat no.
“He’s gonna want a new deal, but pass rushers get a different treatment; if you can get to the quarterback, I’ll deal with the BS,” Brian said.