Why the Eagles allowed Haason Reddick to seek a trade, potential compensation, and what it means

The Eagles must add to their defense this offseason. But the biggest move might be a subtraction, with the club permitting Pro Bowl edge rusher Haason Reddick to seek a trade. (NFL Network first reported the news.) 

Reddick, 29, is entering the final year of a three-year, $45 million contract he signed with the Eagles in 2022. He has 27 sacks during the past two seasons. 

Why would the Eagles allow him to seek a trade, and what does this mean for the Eagles? Here’s what you need to know:

1. The “why” makes sense. Reddick outperformed the contract he signed in 2022, and he’s entering the last year of his deal. He wanted a new deal last year and is in line for a new one this season. If he plays on his current deal in 2023, it’s hard to imagine he’ll be a happy employee. He remained professional — and productive — this season, but it doesn’t benefit the organization or the player to have a discontented star. So he’s likely to play on a new deal in 2024 — whether in Philadelphia or elsewhere. Reddick is currently No. 17 in average annual salary for edge rushers, according to overthecap.com, and the top 11 all make at least $20 million per year. Reddick makes $15 million per year.

Then the obvious conclusion is the Eagles should pay him, right? That’s where it becomes complicated. Josh Sweat, 26, is also a pending free agent. Both players are playing on below-market deals. Good luck getting the next deal to be below market for either player. It’s possible to pay two top edge rushers, although when you consider the cap obligations the Eagles have elsewhere, it might not be a realistic scenario. 

2. Granting permission for a player to seek a trade doesn’t necessarily mean the player will be shipped. Look at Darius Slay last year. It’s basically an invitation to see what another team will pay him, and then the team tries to find acceptable compensation. 

But my guess is this would be a different situation than Slay — or even other players who’ve been in this position, such as Fletcher Cox and Derek Barnett. Reddick should have a healthy market. Edge rusher is a premium position, and Reddick has premium production. It would still require another team presenting an acceptable contract (and one that the Eagles wouldn’t pay) and the Eagles being pleased with the return, but this one would seemingly have more legs than others because of the player and the position. 

3. On that note, what could a potential deal look like? Let’s look at recent trades with high-profile edge rushers in the past five years:

2023

Washington trades Montez Sweat to Chicago for a 2024 second-round pick
Washington trades Chase Young to San Francisco for a 2024 third-round pick 

2022

Denver trades Bradley Chubb and 2025 fifth-round pick for a 2023 first-round pick, a 2024 fourth-round pick, and RB Chase Edmunds
Chicago trades Robert Quinn to the Eagles for a 2023 fourth-round pick
Chicago trades Khalil Mack to Chargers for 2022 second-round pick, 2023 sixth-round pick

2021 

Denver trades Von Miller to Los Angeles Rams for 2022 second-round pick, 2022 third-round pick

2020 

Minnesota trades Yannick Ngakoue to Baltimore for 2021 third-round pick, 2022 fifth-round pick
Jacksonville trades Yannick Ngakoue to Jacksonville for a 2021 second-round pick, 2022 fifth-round pick

2019

Houston trades Jadeveon Clowney to Seattle for 2020 third-round pick, OLB Barkevious Mingo, OLB Jake Martin
Seattle trades Frank Clark and a 2019 third-round pick for 2019 first-round pick, 2020 second-round pick, 2019 third-round pick
Miami trades Robert Quinn to Dallas for 2020 sixth-round pick

Reddick is older than most of those players who’ve been traded, but he’s also more productive than most. In-season deals and offseason deals also take on different context. The deal that is most comparable is likely Khalil Mack, who was traded after his age 30 season during free agency. Mack had a greater high-water mark than Reddick, but not the same recent production. A second-round pick and third-round pick would be a sensible asking price. 

4. Any spin trying to downplay Reddick’s ability is ridiculous from where I sit. He’s proven to be an elite player at one of the most important skill sets in the NFL: rushing the quarterback. He was miscast during the first three years of his career. In the four years since, Reddick has had double-digit sacks every season. The only players with more sacks during this period are T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, and Trey Hendrickson. That’s top-of-the-league company.

Detractors might bring up age, considering he’s 29. That’s the same age as Watt, Hendrickson, and Chris Jones. Their teams aren’t looking to move on from them. And Reddick has missed one game in seven seasons. Good luck finding that type of durability.

I’ve heard scheme suggested, pointing out that he might not be an ideal fit for Vic Fangio. I’d trust Fangio to tailor to the skill set of elite players. Isn’t that the point of coaching — maximizing your personnel? You don’t trade a player like Reddick for scheme.

Reddick is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. If you can’t pay him $25 million a year — Montez Sweat signed for $24.5 million per year — then I understand the conversation to trade him. But I don’t buy talk downplaying his ability. 

5. The last part of this that needs to be considered is what the Eagles would do at edge rusher. If they trade Reddick, they’ll presumably pay Josh Sweat a big contract. Nolan Smith was a first-round pick who needs to emerge into a key player on defense. He received comparisons to Reddick coming out of Georgia, but it’s a long way to double-digit sacks and he must add strength and develop more pass-rush moves. The Eagles would need more than Sweat and Nolan Smith at the position. 

They could use a high pick on an edge rusher in a down year at the position (Chop Robinson? Chris Braswell? Trade up for Dallas Turner, perhaps?). Or they could sign an up-and-coming edge rusher and hope to find a player ascending on his trajectory, similar to Reddick two seasons ago. Bryce Huff, Josh Uche, or Andrew Van Ginkel, the latter of whom has proven he can drop into coverage in Fangio’s scheme? It could also be a pick and a player. But edge rusher would suddenly become a priority this offseason.