The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled off a savvy move by signing pass rusher Haason Reddick to a one-year, $14 million deal, potentially the smartest pickup of free agency.
General Manager Jason Licht on the Reddick signing via ESPN’s Jenna Laine,
“He’s a really unique player.” Licht stated. “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 arrives in Tampa with a vengeance, ready to silence critics who refused to write off last season as a fluke, just when the Buccaneers need a defensive line spark.
After four consecutive seasons with 11+ sacks and back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances, Reddick’s move to the Jets was marred by a contract dispute, which led to him holding out of training camp and half the season. Now with the Buccaneers, doubts linger about whether he can regain his dominant form that once made him a nightmare for opposing linemen.
“[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 via ESPN. ” 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?”
For Reddick, a fresh start might be just what he needs to prove himself all over again to the NFL.
Licht on change of scenery,
“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.”
Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles on Reddick’s 2024 season,
“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.”
Although Reddick wasn’t around during Todd Bowles’ tenure in Arizona, Bucs run game coordinator and outside linebackers coach Larry Foote was, having overlapped with Reddick’s time with the Cardinals, where he was a 2017 first-round pick.
—
“I knew him as a player,” Bowles stated. “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.”
Licht continued,
“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.”
Larry Foote played a key role in Reddick’s transition from inside linebacker to outside linebacker during his time in Arizona. Now, with Foote coaching the same position group again after a stint coaching inside linebackers, Reddick said of their reunion, “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 described the move as “something that I needed right after going through what I went through last year.”
“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.”
Tampa Bay sees potential in Reddick to mentor its young players, and Reddick is eager to take on the challenge, something he welcomed.
After being viewed as one of the league’s top pass rushers, Reddick’s production dipped slightly over the past year. But the Buccaneers might have landed a double win: bolstering their pass rush while acquiring a motivated star player hungry to prove himself after a lackluster 2024. Expect a different, potentially more driven Reddick in 2025 – a prospect that should send shivers down opponents’ spines.
Follow, Like and Subscribe to Bucs Report
BucsReport.com
For more on this and everything Buccaneers check back here hourly at BucsReport.com
