PITTSBURGH – When the Jets return to work in New Jersey on Monday they will have a new teammate waiting for them.
Edge rusher Haason Reddick is ending his holdout, his agent Drew Rosenhaus confirmed, and will report to work on Monday.
The Jets traded for Reddick in March but he has stayed away until now, hoping to get a new contract. The two sides agreed to a reworked contract and the Jets will be waiving some of the nearly $12 million in fines he accrued during his holdout.
Rosenhaus said they will continue to pursue a long-term contract with the Jets.
Reddick, 30, gives the Jets defense an instant boost. Reddick has had double-digit sacks in each of the last four seasons for the Cardinals, Panthers and Eagles.
The Jets acquired Reddick from the Eagles in late March in exchange for a 2026 conditional third-round pick.
Reddick showed up for his physical and a virtual press conference on April 1 and then the Jets did not see him again.
He skipped the spring program and all of training camp, racking up daily fines. He requested a trade in August but the Jets immediately said they would not trade him.
The holdout stretched into the season and Reddick missed the first seven games, including Sunday night’s game with the Steelers. Reddick lost $800,000 a week in game checks for every game he missed.
Teams cannot waive mandatory fines, so it will be interesting to see the details in the reworked contract of how Reddick is recouping some of these fines.
Reddick was fired by his agency, CAA, almost two weeks ago. He hired Rosenhaus last week and the well-known agent met with Jets general manager Joe Douglas before last Monday’s loss to the Bills.
The Jets gave Reddick and Rosenhaus permission to find a trade last week, but that was seen as a move by the Jets to show Reddick there was no trade market. They did not intend to trade him.
The two sides continued talking and Jets owner Woody Johnson also got involved in the talks. They came close to an agreement on Friday and finalized things Sunday morning.
This is the latest development in an eventful few weeks for the Jets.
They fired coach Robert Saleh two weeks ago after a loss to the Vikings in London. Then, they traded for wide receiver Davante Adams last week after the loss to the Bills, reuniting him with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The Jets came to Pittsburgh trying to snap a three-game losing skid on Sunday night. Now, they also know they have some reinforcements for their defense going forward with Reddick in the fold.
