Haason Reddick was definitely flying under the radar when the Carolina Panthers nabbed him out of free agency last season. But now, on his second flight into the open market, he’s going to be right in plain view.
With two straight seasons of elite production, the 27-year-old linebacker has proven to be one of the NFL’s most disruptive forces off the edge. He parlayed a 12.5-sack campaign in 2020 with the Arizona Cardinals into a 11.0-sack output with Carolina.
Reddick will also parlay the one-year, $6 million pact he got from the Panthers in 2021 into, presumably, a much heftier one in 2022—as noted by Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network.
Wanted to isolate Haason Reddick’s part of the above clip because he was kind enough to give me a few minutes by phone yesterday. Also for the @RealMikeRob Penn State shoutout. pic.twitter.com/oFdvOihLcs
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 10, 2022
Will that payday come from out of Carolina’s pocket? Well, probably not.
General manager Scott Fitterer let off some hopeful vibes about a reunion during his media availability at the NFL Scouting Combine. And by “hopeful,” we mean the fingers crossed and say a prayer or two kind of hopeful.
“I talked to Haason’s guys here,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of discussion really over the last couple of weeks. And I think Haason has earned the right to go out and see what he can get. He’s had two years in a row, double-digit sacks. And he’s gonna command a lot of money on the open market. And if he gets that, I’m happy for him. We just want the dialogue to be open and give us a chance and see where it goes.”
Gee, nothing forecasts a breakup more like the ol’ “I’m happy for him.”
The bottomline is that Reddick will be a relatively hot commodity. He plays one of the most important positions in the sport and has done so at a high level in consecutive years.
Although the Panthers have cleared up a nice chunk of cap space recently, there are plenty of potential suitors out there with cash and a need for additional pass rushers. Heck, no team can have enough pass rushers if we’re being honest.
That even goes for his former team in Arizona, who are reportedly right in the thick of the fray as well.
Per sources, the Arizona Cardinals have significant interest in bringing back OLB Haason Reddick.
Reddick is now expected to command close to $17 million annually. His market will be robust.
— Johnny Venerable (@JohnnyVenerable) March 10, 2022
Fitterer and the Panthers might’ve felt as if they won the lottery last spring when they secured Reddick on such a steal of a deal. But what are the odds they hit again?
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