Haason Reddick holdout: Jets owner Woody Johnson offers to roll out red carpet for edge rusher to report

New York Jets owner Woody Johnson showed head coach Robert Saleh the door by firing him unceremoniously on Tuesday.

Now, he is ready to roll out the red carpet for a disgruntled employee in two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Haason Reddick. The Jets acquired the 30-year-old from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a 2026 conditional pick on April 1. The pick conveyed to Philly is a second rounder if he reaches 67.5% of the team’s defensive snaps and double-digit sacks, otherwise it is a third-round pick.

Despite technically being on Gang Green since April, Reddick has yet to show up because he felt he was promised a new contract upon joining the team. The Jets have long felt he went back on his word to play out the final year of his current deal, which included a non-guaranteed base salary of $14.25 million. Reddick has lost $4.2 million of that annual salary after skipping the first five weeks of the season. 

“I don’t think any of us have seen anything like this, so I think you have to be part psychologist and some other [thing] to try to figure out what is actually going on,” Johnson said on a conference call, via ESPN, on Tuesday. 

New York has the fifth-ranked scoring defense in the NFL (17.0 points per game allowed) while ranking second in sack rate (11.4%), fourth in sacks (18.0) and fifth in quarterback pressure rate (39.8%) without Reddick in 2024. Perhaps they could be No. 1 or challenging for the top spot with Reddick. Johnson said the Jets will welcome him “with open arms” and that he “will find a very welcome locker room and he’ll be able to fit right in.” Starting 2-3 has Johnson attempting to goad Reddick to drive down from his Camden, New Jersey residence, which is about 90 minutes from the Jets facility in Florham Park.

“But he’s got to get here first,” Johnson. “So, Haason, get in your car, drive down I-95 and come to the New York Jets. We can meet you and give you an escort right in the building and you will fit right in and you’re going to love it here, and you’re going to feel welcome and you’re going to accomplish great things with us.”