Through Mike Tannenbaum’s decades of working in the NFL, as a front-office employee, an executive and now an analyst with ESPN, he can’t remember a situation that compares to the staredown taking over training camp in Florham Park, where Haason Reddick — acquired just over four months ago — wants a trade and the Jets want their edge rusher to know, without mincing any words, that they won’t grant his wish.
The Darrelle Revis holdout Tannenbaum navigated while serving as the Jets’ general manager was different. Gang Green drafted and watched their first-round pick blossom into a star by the time Revis’ dilemma backed right up to Week 1 in 2010. Reddick, 29, showed up to his fourth NFL team after the March trade, held an introductory press conference and didn’t hint — or anything close to it — at a potential standoff. That sequence made a “band-aid or a long-term deal” seem likely, Tannenbaum said.
“I just don’t remember the last time a player said they were gonna come and then they didn’t show up,” he told Sports+ on Tuesday.
That’s where the trade request entered the picture. It introduced the latest wrinkle in a brief yet complicated relationship. Reddick doesn’t have to show up. The Jets don’t have to trade Reddick. They could let him keep sitting out … and keep sitting out … and keep sitting out until their season ends, and then the sides could do this all again next year after his contract tolls.
