TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht and coach Todd Bowles told reporters last week at the annual league meetings that they have no concerns about new pass rusher Haason Reddick despite failing to find his footing after a holdout resulted in him missing seven games with the New York Jets last season.
The Bucs signed the 30-year-old Reddick, who has registered 59 sacks in eight seasons, to a one-year deal this offseason worth $14 million in an attempt to revive production from their pass rushers.
"He's a really unique player," Licht said. "He's got a lot to prove; he's very hungry. I really enjoyed the conversations we've had since we signed him. He's going to play to try to get another bite at the apple, which I like. He's really excited to help the young guys. He's talked about that -- being a leader and all those things. So that's always going to help. I'm just excited what he can do for all the young guys."
Reddick, who was traded away by the Philadelphia Eagles to the Jets last offseason, called 2024 "very bizarre" and "weird," and said that Tampa is a "fresh start" for him.
"[The] only thing on my mind is moving forward, looking to the future and looking forward to what I can bring to the team here," Reddick said last month. "... I know that everybody is worried about last year, but last year is last year, right? I'm here now. Different mindset, different space, just ready to put the past behind me and continue to move forward, and what better place to do it than here?"
Reddick's holdout was just a small part of what the Jets were dealing with last season. The Jets fired coach Robert Saleh before Reddick even played a snap, and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich took over -- doubling in both roles. The Jets also fired general manager Joe Douglas midseason.
Reddick had a career-low 14 tackles amid the turmoil and played fewer than 16 games in a season for the first time. So Licht sought the perspective of Eagles general manager Howie Roseman -- who he tabbed as "one of my best friends" -- about Reddick before landing on the decision to sign him.
"Every situation is different, there's a story behind everything," Licht said. "I think it's behind him, and in some ways, I was kind of excited. It gave us an opportunity to potentially get great value. I'm rooting for him to have a great year."
Bowles said he considers 2024 an anomaly for Reddick, who missed all of mandatory minicamp, training camp and the preseason because of his holdout -- meaning he received no true ramp-up time. But prior to that, he had four straight seasons of double-digit sacks, including a league-leading 16 in 2022. That's an area of need for the Bucs, who haven't had a player reach double digits in sacks from any of their edge rushers since Shaquil Barrett did it in 2021.
"It was a wash," Bowles said. "He wrote the year off as not a good year. He didn't say much about why it didn't work, he just said he never got his footing and he never got down. When you miss half the season, I can understand that."
Bowles didn't overlap with Reddick, who was a first-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2017, from his time out west, but Bucs run game coordinator/outside linebackers coach Larry Foote did.
"I knew him as a player," Bowles said. "He came to Arizona after I left. He got there the year after I left, I'm pretty sure. Foote had a lot to do with him, and we talked about it quite a bit. I knew he was a heck of a pass rusher. We needed a pass rusher.
"We expect him to be his old self with us. He can do a lot of things, but more importantly, he can rush the passer. If we've got guys that can rush the passer, we let them rush the passer. Like I said last year, we need to rush better with four. I think he brings a great addition to help us rush with four, so we can cover more and do those types of things."
In Arizona, Foote was part of Reddick's transition from inside linebacker to outside linebacker, a position group Foote is back to coaching this year after spending 2022 to 2024 coaching inside linebackers and serving as the Bucs' pass game coordinator. When asked about reuniting with Foote, he said, "It is great to be back around with him."
"[I'm grateful for] how he helped me grow as a player, as a young player at that, out in Arizona," Reddick said. "The time, the attention that he took to make sure he understood my situation, right? A kid coming into the league who's never played inside a linebacker before, somebody who was able to do it the way he did in his career, he understood that.
"His effort, his approach, everything that he gave me -- a lot of that stuff stuck with me and allowed me to continue to grow as a player moving forward."
Reddick called the move "something that I needed right after going through what went through last year" as well.
"Being somewhere that felt like home, being somewhere where I knew I would be wanted -- that was big to me, and I didn't feel like there was any other team out there that had what I was looking for compared to here."
Not only does Tampa Bay feel like Reddick can be an asset to help bring along its young guys, it's a challenge that Reddick spoke about embracing and looking forward to taking on.
The Bucs also have high hopes for linebacker Yaya Diaby, who registered 4.5 sacks last season. Going into Year 3, the coaching staff feels like he's on the verge of breaking out. His 20 quarterback hits in 2024 were tied for seventh most in the league (for comparison, Brian Burns had 18 and Jared Verse had 16). His 10.8% pressure rating was 13th among outside linebackers, while his 15.1% pass rush win rate ranked 17th.
Reddick has mostly lined up on the defense's left and the offense's right but he's open to lining up on either side, whereas Diaby did both last year. Reddick's early days spent as an inside linebacker could also help him dropping into coverage too, which Bowles does ask of his outside linebackers.
While their 46 sacks last season were fifth-most among playoff teams, the defense struggled to get off the field in their wild-card playoff game against the Washington Commanders, resulting in Washington dominating the time of possession and the Bucs losing by a last-second field goal, 23-20.
In Reddick, they have the potential for high-level production without the hefty price tag of a player like Myles Garrett, who is making a record-setting $40 million per year to remain with the Cleveland Browns. The short time frame of the contract for Reddick minimizes the risk for potential grievances and allows both Reddick and the Bucs to revisit things after the season. The Bucs have a reputation around the league of rewarding players after successful one-year deals, as they did with Baker Mayfield, who is averaging $33.33 million per year after making $4 million in 2023.
Reddick's signing also doesn't preclude the Bucs, who are scheduled to make six picks in the draft -- beginning with the No. 19 selection, from taking an edge rusher in a draft class that is considering particularly deep at that position.
"I don't know if it changes the mindset there," Licht said. "We've got a few players -- a handful of players like we do every year -- that we think could be there at 19, including edge rushers. I think we're going to stick to, 'What's the best player?' And if it happens to be an edge rusher, it's an edge rusher."