The Jets may be close to having Haason Reddick report to training camp.
NFL insider Josina Anderson said Gang Green “made positive progress” this week after Redick, the pass rusher acquired from the Eagles in March, stayed away from team activities while he sought a new contract. “There’s recent hope that Redick is close to joining the team and getting acclimated,” Anderson wrote in a Saturday X post.
Asked about the development, which was reported on Saturday, manager Robert Saleh said: “He’s not here until he’s here.”
“But that was good to hear,” he added after the Jets’ fourth training camp session.
Asked afterwards about hypothetical players arriving late to camp, Saleh said there would be an acclimation period but it hadn’t been decided how long it would last.
Redick, who is set to earn a base salary of $14.25 million in 2024, missed optional overtime activities and mandatory minicamp sessions and did not report when the Jets’ camp began.
So that became one of the bigger storylines than anything that unfolded during practice.
He was an unexcused absentee during mandatory minicamp along with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who traveled to Egypt. This followed Redick’s absence during the voluntary portion of the Jets’ offseason.
Acquired in exchange for a conditional third-round pick, Redick will ultimately be tasked with filling the defensive line spot vacated by 2023 breakout star Bryce Huff, who signed a three-year, $51 million contract with the Eagles as a free agent.
The Jets still have All-Pro lineman Quinnen Williams, and Jermaine Johnson took a step forward after adding five sacks last season, but there are still plenty of players for Gang Green to replace, and Redick, who has recorded at least 11 sacks in each of the past four seasons, will help him do that.
On the first day of camp, Saleh said he wasn’t “too worried” about Redick’s absence.
That’s the “business part” of football, he said.
But after the Jets have been playing without Redick for months, optimism has grown in recent days suggesting that things might finally be changing.
Right guard Aliyah Vera-Tucker, who returned to the full roster on Friday and took part in some of the team’s drills on Saturday, said he is not feeling any pain in the Achilles tendon he ruptured in October. He has “some hurdles” remaining and will be working more each day.
Cornerback Brandin Echols missed Saturday’s practice with “some sort of bruise on his ribs,” Saleh said.
He’s scheduled to be re-evaluated on Monday, but the Jets aren’t concerned about his long-term availability.
WR Xavier Gipson (lower leg injury) and OL Jake Hanson also did not practice.
The Jets signed QB Adrian Martinez and CB Kendall Sheffield and waived QB Ben Bryant and CB Nehemiah Shelton.
Martinez threw for 1,749 yards and ran for 528 yards and 18 total touchdowns with the Birmingham Stallions, winning the UFL MVP award in both the 2024 season and championship game.
