Buccaneers Trade Proposal Lands Disgruntled 58-Sack All-Pro

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Buccaneers potential trade target Haason Reddick

Much would have to fall into place in order for the Buccaneers to get themselves involved in a pursuit of Jets star linebacker Haason Reddick, but at the very least, the possibility is there. That’s because the two main ingredients required to make a Reddick deal a reality—a team that has both a need for his services and the space to give him a new contract—are in place in Tampa Bay.

In a way, getting Redick would be a full-circle move for the Buccaneers. The team let linebacker Devin White walk in the offseason, and he wound up taking a one-year deal with the Eagles, who were unable to agree to a new contract with Reddick. Thus, the Eagles shipped off Redick to the Jets.

Now, though, the Jets can’t agree on a new deal for Reddick, and want him to play on the $14.25 million deal he has in place this season. Reddick has dug in and is holding out, with ESPN now reporting he has made a trade request from the Jets.

The Buccaneers have the ability to bring Reddick in and give him a pay bump—they have about $22 million in cap room, according to OverTheCap.com. With young and unproven pass-rushers on both edges, a Reddick trade might well make sense.

Haason Reddick Wants Out of NY

That’s the thinking at Bleacher Report, where Reddick going to Tampa is part of an article titled, “Brand-New Landing Spots for NFL’s Top 2024 Trade Targets.” In it, the deal is laid out: Reddick going to the Buccaneers for the fairly low price of a fourth-round pick in 2025.

Here’s how the writer, Alex Kay, makes the case: “Any team willing to acquire him should also be willing to dole out a market value extension, which does limit the amount of franchises that would potentially come calling.

“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are relatively flush with cap space right now and could use a talent of Reddick’s caliber on the edge. The team is currently set to rely on Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Yaya Diaby to man the starting outside linebacker spots, but both are dealing with injuries and neither has recorded more than 7.5 sacks in a single season.

“The Bucs might even get a deal on Reddick’s services if the Jets are willing to take back less than it gave up for him to put this saga behind them.”

The major sticking point, though, is that the Jets have immediately said they’re not trading Reddick, and indeed, they shouldn’t—they have all the leverage in the situation. Perhaps Reddick does deserve a better payout but the fact is, a holdout hurts him more than it hurts the team.

Buccaneers Need Pass-Rush Help

Still, getting Reddick into a Buccaneers uniform is tempting. Diaby was a third-round pick last year out of Louisville and showed a lot of promise as the year went on, finishing with 7.5 sacks. The ceiling on Tryon-Shoyinka is lower, as he enters his fourth season with just 13 total sacks in his career.

In all, the Buccaneers have four edge rushers who were graded at Pro Football Focus last year, and none came in higher than 71^st out of 112—Tryon-Shoyinka was 71, Diaby was 81^st, Anthony Nelson was 83^rd and Randy Gregory was 106^th. The Bucs are banking on improvement there, but it’s still not a strong unit.

Reddick, though, has had at least 11 sacks in each of the last four seasons (58 in his career) and was an All-Pro the last two seasons. PFF ranks him as the 18^th-best edge rusher in the NFL, and wrote, “Reddick is third on the NFL sack list over the past two seasons (27.5). The pass-rush specialist moved from Philadelphia to New York this offseason, and we’ll see if he can keep up his effective pass-rush ways.”