Joe Douglas sat quietly in the second row of the press box Sunday, watching his team earn its first win of the season, 24-17, in a three-hour stress test against the Titans at Nissan Stadium.
The worst thing Douglas witnessed was when the team's best edge rusher, Jermaine Johnson, suffered an Achilles injury in the third quarter, ending his season.
The sight of Johnson being carried off the field on a stretcher must have left Douglas with a nauseating feeling in his stomach.
Hopefully, that will prompt him to call Haason Reddick's agent, Tory Dandy, on Sunday night or Monday in an attempt to end the stubborn nonsense that has turned into a story about the pass rusher's odd ongoing resistance from the team.
The Jets needed Redick and acquired him from the Eagles in exchange for a conditional 2026 third-round pick on March 29 before Johnson was injured.
They need him more now.
The Jets' first two games played out in Redick's favor after a lopsided loss in the season opener and then an injury to Johnson meant the Jets had little opportunity to mount a pass rush against San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy.
This doesn't mean Douglas has to cave to all of Redick's demands, whatever those may be specifically.
But that means you have to step on the gas to find a middle ground, which means calling in a dandy to find a middle ground — whatever that may be.
Because nobody's winning here. Not the Jets. Not Redick. They're all losing.
The Jets are missing Redick's elite pass-rush skills, which could give them an edge in a championship race. And Redick is losing money. A lot of money. He's losing about $800,000 in salary for every game he misses.
According to ESPN, if Redick sits out the entire year, he stands to lose about $21.75 million, which is made up of $14.25 million in base salary, $4.5 million in fines and $3 million in forfeited bonuses.
The stalemate became even more ugly on August 12, when Redick requested a trade from the Jets and Douglas countered with a public statement that he had no intention of doing so anytime soon.
Overall, regardless of how badly the Jets need Redick, they hold the most important card here, because if he can't join the team by Week 10, he won't get a credit for the 2024 season and will remain Jets property in 2025.
This slow dance would then continue into next year, which would be a huge and unnecessary waste of everyone's time.
The Jets remain adamant that they won't negotiate with Redick unless he returns and joins the team, and it's time for Douglas to soften that stance and negotiate a new contract before Redick returns to the team — as long as Dundee is willing to negotiate.
Redick, who is in the final year of his three-year contract, has not publicly revealed what he wants.
As a player who recorded 50.5 sacks over the past three seasons, he would likely want a multi-year contract with an average annual salary of around $28 million, similar to what T.J. Watt did with the Steelers and Brian Barnes did with the Giants.
If Douglas is uncomfortable signing Redick to a long-term deal, perhaps he could offer him a one-year deal worth around $30 million or a two-year contract worth $50 million.
Redick has only visited the Jets' facility once before, on April Fool's Day, for his introductory press conference and has not been back since.
Hopefully, for everyone's sake, the Jets and Redick can stop the foolishness of the past four months, push aside the animosity, compromise, and help everyone win.
The moment is urgent, as it should be for both sides.
Everyone knows this is a win-or-lose season for Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh, and the Jets are in full-on mode with head coach Aaron Rodgers on a limited window of opportunity.
All in means Redick will be joining the team.
Saleh has reiterated that the team would “welcome Redick with open arms” if he were to rejoin the team.
“Joe and I talk all the time,” Saleh said Monday. “Joe knows exactly what we need and he knows exactly what we're all thinking. He's so good at asking questions and understanding what we're feeling, no matter what position we're in, no matter what insecurities we have.”
“We have guys on our team that we love, guys that we've worked with and we're going to continue to work with until we get this all resolved.”
It's time for the Jets and Redick to realize this, compromise and put an end to this stubborn nonsense.
