TAMPA — Haason Reddick’s holdout after being traded from the Eagles to the Jets last year wound up costing him a lot of money.
The Bucs are hoping it will be more incentive for him to return to form as one of the league’s best pass rushers.
Reddick agreed to a one-year deal with Tampa Bay on Monday worth up to $14 million, with $12 million guaranteed.
The Bucs were desperate to add an edge rusher in free agency.
Yaya Diaby, who led the team with 7 ½ sacks as a rookie in 2023, posted only 4 ½ this past season. Tampa Bay already had decided to move on from 2021 first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka by not picking up his fifth-year club option. It proved to be the correct decision, as he had only two sacks in 2024.
Reddick has pedigree and — when playing — plenty of production. He had double-digit sacks for four straight years before joining the Jets, including 16 for the Eagles in 2022, second most in the league.
Reddick, who did not participate in training camp or the preseason, had just one sack for New York last season.
“We need ballhawks,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said at the NFL scouting combine last month in Indianapolis. “We need turnovers. We need guys that are very astute in the game that can see things and make plays and go get them. That’s what I’m looking for.”
The Bucs also believe they have some inside information as to how Reddick’s mind clicks.
Tampa Bay outside linebackers coach Larry Foote coached Reddick in Arizona when he arrived in the league as the Cardinals’ first-round pick out of Temple in 2017.
The Bucs had interest in several free-agent pass rushers. Among them was Khalil Mack, who is signing a one-year, $18 million contract to remain with the Chargers.
Reddick should enable the blitz-happy Bowles to rush the passer with only four down linemen, improving the pass coverage on the back end.
Reddick was one of the NFL’s best pass rushers from 2020-23, recording 50 ½ sacks and 255 quarterback pressures.
He must have felt like he was playing for free last season.
After being traded to the Jets, he held out while demanding a new contract, missing mandatory minicamp, training camp and seven games, racking up $4.5 million in fines. He gained nothing by doing so when the team wouldn’t budge, earning only a $791,000 bonus for playing time that was added to his original deal.
Reddick’s signing means the Bucs won’t be forced to reach for an edge rusher early in the draft and can address other needs.
In addition to Diaby and Reddick, the Bucs are hoping Chris Braswell, their second-round pick from Alabama in 2024, will take a big leap in his second year after recording only 1 ½ sacks as a rookie.
The Bucs also have Markees Watts and Jose Ramirez under contract. They still could attempt to re-sign free agent Anthony Nelson.
Reddick’s best game may have come in the 2023 NFC Championship game. He had two sacks and knocked 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy out of the game with an elbow injury in the Eagles’ 31-7 win.
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