There appears to be renewed hope that a solution could be on the horizon between the New York Jets and Haason Reddick.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini joined Jets analyst Will Parkinson on “TOJ Talks” to reveal why the days leading up to the San Francisco 49ers game are pivotal.
“I know it looks bleak right now,” Cimini admitted on Saturday, August 31. “However I do think people there are clinging to some hope that he [Reddick] comes in on Monday or Tuesday. I don’t think they have abandoned all hope. We know the NFL is a deadline business. Things don’t move until it’s crunch time. I think Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday that would be crunch time.”
Cimini added, “I just know how this league works [with] deadlines and I’m not ready to abandon it yet. I think there is still a glimmer of hope.”
This Week Will Prove How Far Reddick Is Willing to Take This
Monday, September 2 is day No. 42 of the Reddick – Jets holdout.
According to the NFL’s current CBA, Reddick’s daily fines came to an end on Sunday, September 1.
“$2.05M in mandatory training-camp fines ($50G/day). Per CBA, training camp runs through the last Sunday before the first regular-season game (that means today) for daily fining purposes,” Cimini explained on social media.
When you total all of the net losses for Reddick this offseason since becoming a member of the Jets, he has lost just under $5 million.
However, the week leading up to the season opener versus the 49ers is massively important.
“If a player is on the opening day roster his salary becomes guaranteed. So that’s $14 million he can get guaranteed. He is going to lose about $800,000 a week in game checks if he doesn’t show up. I know he seems very entrenched in his position but all players have a plan when they start a holdout like if we don’t get something done by this date then this is what we are going to do,” Cimini said.
Right now Reddick’s $14.25 million for 2024 is non-guaranteed, but reporting to the Jets and being on the opening-day roster will make that guaranteed. That won’t give him back the $5 million he has lost, but it will guarantee that he receives the money that was owed to him.
Leverage Could Be at Play in the Week 1 Jets-49ers Matchup
If Reddick doesn’t report this week, all the pressure will be placed on Monday Night Football.
Technically speaking Reddick isn’t on the Jets roster. He never reported so he doesn’t count against the 53-man roster.
So the Jets have a plan to play without Reddick against the 49ers. If they win the game and can create consistent pressure on Brock Purdy, Reddick’s side loses what little leverage they had left.
However, if the opposite happens, the Jets lose a close game and it came down to a play where the Jets defense couldn’t get Purdy on the ground, Reddick’s camp could try to enforce their contract demands.
In a perfect world, Reddick shows up and that isn’t a storyline. Although Reddick has been willing to push it this far, who knows if he is willing to push it one step further and allow this to drag into the regular season.