Howie Roseman Is Courting Disaster With The Haason Reddick Situation
Howie Roseman has often been dubbed a cap wizard. For good reason. He finds ways to work the cap in ways that give the Eagles an advantage. When it looks like a player will be a massive cap hit for the Eagles, he moves the money around to open up more space. That is the case with the recent Saquon Barkley deal. But in hoping to save some money on Haason Reddick, he could be courting disaster.
Eagles fans got a shock before the off-season began when news broke that they gave Haason Reddick permission to seek a trade. The truth is he did not request a trade, he asked for a new contract. The Eagles just wanted it to look like he wanted a trade because shady anonymous reports is how Howie handles his business.
Despite being 3rd in Sacks over the last 4 seasons, he is outside the top 15 among Edge Rushers in AAV. Reddick is massively underpaid. He was underpaid going into last season, but he was a good soldier and didn’t complain too much about it. He just carried on and had his 4th straight double-digit sack season. Now that it is the 0ff-season, and he is on an expiring contract, he understandably wants a pay bump.
But Howie Roseman and the Eagles don’t want to give him what he wants. If they did, they wouldn’t have leaked the whole trade thing. They also wouldn’t be making moves to prepare for the eventuality of trading him. They signed Bryce Huff and re-worked Josh Sweat’s contract. Howie has also talked up Nolan Smith and mentioned how it is important that they give their young players more playing time.The writing is on the wall.
All of that starts to signal that Haason Reddick may not an Eagle for much longer. Jeremy Fowler joined Kincade and Salciunas, and indicated that a trade appears likely.
Taking a Big Risk
Their defense was bad last year. They hope Vic Fangio can fix things. But in order for Fangio’s scheme to work, you need the front 4 or 5 guys to consistently get pressure. It is the only way this style of defense works. The reason the defense played so well in 2022 under Gannon is because they generated a pass rush at a historic level without having to blitz. That didn’t happen last year, apart from Reddick. The sack numbers were way down.
Getting rid of your only consistent Edge-Rusher is not the ideal way to fix things. Especially when you already lost Fletcher Cox to retirement. There is now a chance they lose their two most productive Defensive Linemen, from a defense that was already wanting for more talent. And it seems to be by choice for Howie Roseman.
Huff helps, but he has only 1 season with double-digit sacks and has never been a 3-down lineman. Josh Sweat is coming off a down year, and also only has 1 double-digit sack season. Nolan Smith was a non-factor his rookie season. Counting on those 3 guys to get the job done, without a sure thing like Reddick, is taking a massive risk.
Tim McManus joined The Best Show Ever before the off-season, and he questioned the logic of Howie Roseman in this situation.
“The answer as to why they are this hesitant to pay him is a bit of a mystery. Obviously, they have put down a valuation of where they feel like Reddick is versus where he wants to get to. And there’s a disagreement on that right now. And they’ve stayed pretty firm to that valuation.
But I think it brings up like this whole other big picture question. Because when I look at the roster and what’s happening right now, there’s a chance that a Haason Reddick is gone from this team. There’s a chance that Fletcher Cox is gone from this team. There’s a chance that Jason Kelce is also moving on… Arguably your two best players on defense, which was a bad defense, but your two bright spots along with probably Darius Slay might be off of the roster. Which begs the question like, what are they doing?”
Howie Roseman Better Get This Right
Howie Roseman has at times been a great GM, but he has plenty of blunders too. Last year was a major blunder. The lack of talent on defense in 2023 can be placed squarely on his head. His love for anonymous leaks did not help the overall culture and vibes of the locker room. So potentially moving on from your most talented player on defense is puzzling. They have enough issues on that side of the ball already.
Their cornerback room is old and slow. That is Howie’s fault. CJ Gardner-Johnson will help the safety room, but there are still huge question marks about who will be the 2nd guy there. And LB is still a mystery despite the Devin White deal. He has done a lot this off-season. But I am still not sure if this defense has enough talent. The draft may fix that. But moving Haason Reddick will only create more needs to fill once they get to the draft.
Nick Sirianni is already on thin ice after last season. But Howie Roseman should be right out there with him. Especially if they lose Reddick. Howie might have put together the only Super Bowl roster in Eagles history, but they were more than happy to kick the QB and Head Coach from that team to the curb. So 7 years later, that should not be a suit of armor to him anymore. If he can’t right this ship on defense, his time should be up.
If they do move Reddick, he better hope Bryce Huff and Nolan Smith make up for that lost production. If not, there will be no one else to blame apart from Howie Roseman.
*This Article originally went out in February, But Has Been Updated After The Latest News About Haason Reddick*
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