The 49ers completed their final offseason practice on Tuesday ahead of their season opener against the Jets.
Now it's the Jets' turn.
The 49ers ended a summer-long holdout by finalizing a contract extension with presumptive Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams, just days after agreeing to a new deal with star receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who ended a holdout after receiving a reported four-year, $120 million contract.
Those are two crucial pieces of the puzzle as the 49ers prepare to face the Jets on Monday night at Levi's Stadium in search of a second consecutive Super Bowl appearance.
The Williams and Aiyuk deals not only bolster the 49ers heading into their home opener against a significantly improved Jets, but also leave the Jets as the only NFL team still without active contracts.
Yes, the Haason Reddick mystery saga continues to madden for the Jets, and it needs to be resolved before the star pass rusher is eligible to practice on Thursday before the team travels to San Francisco.
We all know the Jets are committed to 2024, given that 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers is healthy and only has a realistic chance left for a year or two.
Overall, the Jets need to be at their best — and they aren't at their best — without the 29-year-old Redick, whom they acquired from the Eagles in March for a conditional 2026 third-round pick.
The Jets are fooling themselves and their fans if they think their defense will be OK without Redick, who has recorded 50.5 sacks over the past four seasons.
Denver released pass-rush specialist Bryce Huff in free agency after recording 10 sacks and 21 quarterback hits (both team highs) in 2023. They also traded to Denver for John Franklin-Myers, who recorded 3.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits.
With Redick out, those numbers will essentially be left to Will McDonald and Michael Clemons. McDonald had three sacks and five quarterback hits last season, while Clemons had a half-sack and one quarterback hit.
That's not enough, even as Jets coach Robert Saleh has publicly stated how “confident” he is in the pair of unknowns to fill in for Redick's potential.
Asked Tuesday if there was a deadline for Redick to practice and potentially play on Monday, Saleh said, “It all depends on if and when he practices. We'll have him in practice with our training staff, see how he's doing, communicate with him and see what we can do.”
The Redick mess is the fault of general manager Joe Douglas, who should have known about this already. Douglas made the trade and was heavily involved in the decision not to re-sign Huff.
Redick's camp leaked his desire to be traded to the Jets last month, and Douglas, who is open to negotiations as often (if not more frequently) as most team owners, issued a rare statement publicly saying the team would not trade him.
Conclusion: Douglas should not have executed the transaction without a contract in place.
Meanwhile, while the Jets' defense continues to weaken in Redick's absence, the 49ers have bolstered their offense with Williams and Aiyuk back on the field.
None of that will help the Jets when they face the defending NFC champions on Monday night, and they could certainly use Redick's pass rush against Williams.
When asked if he expected Williams to play on Monday night, Saleh said, “I had no expectation that he wouldn't play. We've been preparing from day one as if he was going to be there.”
Jets veteran right tackle Morgan Moses, who knows a thing or two about the position and Williams' style of play, added: “You're talking about a guy who may be remembered as the best tackle to ever play the game. Obviously, people around him are thinking, 'Hey, that's the best tackle I've ever seen.' [the 49ers] We knew we couldn't play without him.”
Just like the Jets should make it their business to not play games without Redick.
Saleh stressed Tuesday that he's “not disappointed” that Redick isn't on the field. Asked if having Redick back would be a “bonus” for a defense that has struggled all summer without him, Saleh said, “Yeah. I guess it's like looking for pennies on the couch, right? He's a special football player and he's only going to help us out when he gets here.”
Hopefully, for the Jets' sake, “finally” will be this week.
