Eagles Must Beware Of A Redemption Game From Former Teammate
Haason Reddick’s career hasn’t gone the way he probably hoped when he got traded out of Philadelphia at the end of the 2023 season. He had just come off his fourth consecutive season of double-digit sacks with 11. Two teams and 13 games later, he has two.
Reddick is 31 now and on a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who host the Eagles on Sunday at 1 p.m. Could you blame him if he’s looking for a little redemption after the Eagles traded him in the offseason two years ago, with still one year left on a contract that was going to pay him $15 million?
General manager Howie Roseman put a tourniquet on a wound he could see opening with his star pass rusher, who wanted more money and may have been headed toward a holdout if he didn’t get it.
So, Roseman traded him, and the Reddick headache became their problem. Reddick held out for half the season in New York before returning on a deal that didn’t pay him what he had wanted. He made it into 10 games, with just two starts, and had one sack with the Jets, with just three QB hits.
The Eagles will reap the rewards of the trade having acquired a conditional third-round pick from the Jets in the 2026 draft. The Bucs, meanwhile, are trying to reap the Reddick reward this season, a season in which they are paying him $14 million.
Lane Johnson Will Line Up On Reddick
He has one sack in three starts and is playing a lot, logging 80 percent of the defensive snaps, so far. Basically, exceeding expectations, according to Tampa’s run game coordinator/outside linebackers coach Larry Foote, “because he’s doing a great job in the run game.”
The Bucs limited the Jets to 99 yards rushing, their 11th straight game holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards on the ground dating back to last season. Since Week 10 of the 2024 season – the start of Tampa Bay's streak – the team has held opponents to 3.3 yards per carry, the best mark in the NFL over that span.
The job of blocking Reddick will fall primarily to Lane Johnson because Reddick lines up most of the time on the left side of the Bucs' defense.
“Some guys just care about sacks, and I say (to) just keep going after it and make sure to get the quarterback down,” said Foote about Reddick. “He has been close, especially the Houston (Texans) game, he missed him a couple of times.
“Those (sack) numbers will come, but I am definitely happy the way he is attacking the run game. With pass rushers, you have to tell them, ‘Hey, you have to earn the right to rush the passer.’”
Raiders Land Towering Super Bowl Champion Eagles Cast Off
The Las Vegas Raiders continue to tinker with their roster after they cut it down to 53 players. The secondary remains a concern for the team, but there are some notable players who have become available.
Safety Tristin McCollum spent the last two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, but was waived recently. He won’t be headed to free agency.
The Raiders claimed the veteran safety, and he’ll now be playing in Las Vegas. McCollum came into the NFL in 2022 as an undrafted free agent of the Houston Texans, but didn’t get any playing time until he went to the Eagles.
He played 14 games last season for the Super Bowl champions and started in two of them. At 6-foot-3, he has the type of size head coach Pete Carroll likes in a defensive back. Between McCollum and Isaiah Pola-Mao, the Raiders have two of the tallest safeties in the NFL.
Safety depth was a bit of concern. Jeremy Chinn is lining up at nickel cornerback quite a bit, so he might not be taking as many safety snaps. McCollum is a player who can step in and play some snaps if the Raiders need him to. It doesn’t hurt for the team to have more depth.
Carroll Talks Cornerback Room
While another safety will help, the Raiders’ cornerback room is still very concerning. The team has decided against making any notable additions. Eric Stokes looks like he’s locked in as a starter, while Kyu Blu Kelly and rookie Darien Porter continue to fight for the other spot.
According to Carroll, the Raiders aren’t locked in on starters yet. They’re going to cycle through a few cornerbacks.
“We’ve got really good competition over there on the other side, and we’ll see how that works out by the end of the week. We’ll keep it going,” Carroll said on Thursday. “A number of guys will play in the game. You’ll see a lot of guys will be rolling through there.”
It’s difficult to question Carroll, who has a very strong background in developing cornerbacks. However, this is an odd strategy for a team that might have the weakest secondary in the NFL on paper.
Raiders Will Likely Keep Making Roster Moves
There’s still a lot of roster movement around the NFL. Players who aren’t available right now could still become available. It’s clear that the Raiders aren’t opposed to making more moves.
The Raiders seem pretty set on offense. They solved their wide receiver need by adding Amari Cooper, and brought in more offensive line depth with the Stone Forsythe signing.
On defense, the Raiders do have a lot of intriguing young players, which might make it more difficult to add veterans. Any young player who is cut will be subject to the waiver wire. That makes it more complicated to add them to the practice squad.
The biggest position the Raiders should consider is cornerback. They like their young players, but it would be wise to have more veteran help. That said, the team hasn’t addressed the issue yet, so they might just be comfortable with what they have.
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