If we’re talking about things that held the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2024, after injuries the biggest culprit was probably a defense that struggled to carry its weight until late in the season.
At the heart of those struggles was the lack of an edge rusher, with a pair of interior defensive linemen in Calijah Kancey and Pro Bowler Vita Vea leading the team in sacks.
The Buccaneers opened the NFL’s legal tampering period on March 10 by directly addressing that position, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“Haason Reddick has agreed to terms on a 1-year deal for $14 million, including $12 million guaranteed with the Buccaneers,” Schefter wrote.
With Reddick, Tampa Bay gets an edge rusher who has shown to be dominant in the past but needs to reboot his career after his own drama-filled past year.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox has Reddick at No. 28 on his list of the Top 50 NFL free agents in the 2025 cycle.
“Haason Reddick’s forgettable lone season with the Jets did nothing to help his free-agency stock (in 2024),” Knox wrote on February 17. “He held out for a new contract for nearly half of the season, and he only made a marginal impact for the Jets upon his return. However, the 30-year-old has been a high-level producer before. Last season with the Philadelphia Eagles, Reddick amassed 11 sacks, 13 tackles for loss and 35 quarterback pressures. He had four straight seasons of double-digit-sacks before he was traded to New York.”
Reddick Coming Off Ugly Holdout With Jets
When the Jets traded a 2026 third round pick to the Eagles for Reddick in March 2024, they thought they were going to get a player in the last season of his contract who could be the difference for a defense that seemed on the verge of becoming a playoff team.
Reddick thought he was getting a new contract. Thus, the drama. Reddick held out of minicamp and training camp and requested a trade in August. He missed the first 6 games of the regular season, incurring massive fines until he returned to the Jets for the final 10 games of the regular season. He had his worst year since 2019 with just 1.0 sack as his team stumbled to a 5-12 record.
It was a bad look for Reddick, who was due to make almost $16 million in 2024 in the final season of the 3-year, $45 million contract he signed with the Eagles in March 2022.
Bucs Saw Edge Rusher Deal Blow Up in 2024
The Buccaneers tried to address their edge rusher problem before the 2024 season and saw it blow up in their faces after they signed veteran Randy Gregory to a 1-year, $5 million contract in the spring.
Gregory never played a single down for Tampa Bay — he never even came to a single practice. Gregory was a no-show, no-call for minicamp and training camp and was eventually released on August 17.
“Gregory had yet to report to training camp and missed two preseason games after filing a lawsuit against the NFL and Denver Broncos over alleged discrimination in June,” ESPN’s Jenna Laine wrote on Aug. 17. “In it, Gregory claimed that the league and team denied him the use of the drug dronabinol, which is prescribed to Gregory by a doctor for the treatment of social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress.”
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