One reason the 2025 season went sideways for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the team’s big free-agent bet on edge rusher Haason Reddick: a 1-year, $14 million contract that ended with him falling flat on his face.
Before that, the Philadelphia Eagles thought Reddick was a diminishing asset and cashed out at his value’s apex, shipping him to the New York Jets in the middle of a nasty contract dispute.
Reddick missed 4 games with injuries in 2025 with the Buccaneers and was largely ineffective when he did play, recording just 2.5 sacks. That kind of production has kept him unemployed so far this season, but Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay thinks a team out there could still use him—the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kay put Reddick at the top of his list of free-agent veterans who could push contenders “Over the Top” in 2026.
“Reddick was one of the NFL’s most productive pass-rushers between the 2020-2023 seasons, a four-season stretch in which he tallied a whopping 50.5 sacks despite suiting up for three different organizations,” Kay wrote on October 20. “While his production dipped significantly over the last two years — he’s recorded just 3.5 sacks since the start of the 2024 campaign — he could return to form in Kansas City. The two-time Pro Bowler turned 32 last month, but he should still have some tread left on his tires. He could thrive as a part-time rotational piece in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s system, helping the unit generate waves of pressure while its starters are getting a much-needed breather.”
Money Might Not Be Motivating Factor for Reddick
Reddick might not be super motivated to return — he already has $80.5 million in career earnings through the end of the 2025 season, and any deal he gets from the Chiefs or another team won’t resemble any contract he’s had in recent years.
Add to that the fact that Reddick just hasn’t been very good for several years now, and you get it. He’s also been in messy contract disputes with two of his last three teams — the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets — so teams might not want that type of headache.
Reddick 1 of NFL’s Top Remaining Free Agents
In May, Reddick was still on ESPN’s list of the Top 20 available free agents.
“Reddick had 2.5 sacks and 23 pressures for the Bucs last season,” ESPN’s Matt Bowen wrote. “With 61.5 career sacks, he could draw interest from teams that like to scheme their pass rushers out of loaded fronts.”
Reddick had plenty of opportunity to keep banking big paychecks even with a middling 2025 performance, and the Buccaneers were initially praised for signing him.
“Tampa Bay also took what I thought was a worthwhile gamble on Reddick at one year, $14 million,” ESPN’s Seth Walder wrote in July 2025. “Reddick is coming off a lost season that featured a long contract standoff, 10 games played and only one sack. But Reddick has been an elite pass rusher (he posted double-digit sacks every year from 2020 to 2023) and could help Todd Bowles’ defense if he bounces back.”
Haason Reddick’s Struggles Seem Self-Inflicted
The Jets traded a 2026 3rd-round pick to the Eagles for Reddick in March 2024, thinking they were getting a playmaker for a team ready to make a playoff push.
Reddick thought he was getting a new contract. He held out of minicamp and training camp and requested a trade in August. Then he missed the first 6 regular-season games, incurring massive fines, before returning to the Jets for the final 10 games. He had his worst year since 2019 with just 1.0 sack as the Jets went 5-12 overall.
It was a bad look for Reddick, who was due almost $16 million in 2024 in the final year of the 3-year, $45 million contract he signed with the Eagles in March 2022.
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