How NFL analysts graded Eagles' Reddick signing

 

The Eagles made a sizable splash on the first day of the NFL's free agency tampering period, inking edge rusher Haason Reddick to a three-year, $45 million deal. The 27-year-old pass rushing specialist has been one of the league's more underrated monsters in his last two seasons and will help the Eagles' defense immensely in 2022.

Fans in Philadelphia were pretty excited about the move - at least in part because Reddick is a Camden native and Temple product - but what did the larger football community think of the Birds' first major offseason move?

Let's take a spin around the football internet and see what some NFL analysts are saying about the Reddick deal:

Sporting News

"Philadelphia needed to improve the depth and effectiveness of the edge pass rush with Derek Barnett a free agent and age/injury concerns with Brandon Graham. Reddick, a Temple product, cashes in big time after two big sack seasons with Arizona and Philadelphia."

Grade: B

CBS Sports

"The Eagles were able to acquire a 27-year-old linebacker who racked up 23.5 sacks and eight forced fumbles over the past two years. They did so without breaking the bank, as Reddick comes to Philadelphia for a reported $45 million over three years."

Grade: A+

Sports Illustrated

"The former situational inside linebacker turned deadly outside rusher, who played on more than 80% of the Panthers’ snaps last year, adds a different dimension for the Eagles than they’ve had previously. In the era of simulated pressure, Reddick is athletic enough to approach the line and drift back into coverage to cloud throwing lanes. [...]

"He could easily be in for his third straight double-digit sack season. Philadelphia was 21st in pressure percentage last season, and if the Eagles intend to continue blitzing at the paltry 16% rate they did a year ago, they’ll need a spark such as Reddick."

Grade: B

Bleacher Report

"In his first three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, Reddick shifted between inside and outside linebacker before coming into his own as a pass-rusher in 2020 with 12.5 sacks and 34 quarterback pressures. Last offseason, he signed a one-year deal with the Carolina Panthers and proved himself as a reliable edge-rusher, recording 11 sacks and 33 pressures.

"Reddick's rise wasn't fluky. He possesses the speed, power and flexibility to rush the passer in even- and odd-man fronts. Alongside defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Fletcher Cox, the 27-year-old should be an upgrade over impending free agent Derek Barnett, who logged 21.5 sacks and 80 pressures in five terms with the Eagles."

Grade: A

SB Nation

"Reddick has had a great two seasons prior, but this is a whole lot of money. It’s unclear if Reddick can fill the role of a top-tier solo pass rusher, but he’s being paid that kind of money.

"On the one hand I like the talent, on the other, it feels bizarre to see the Eagles spend big money on a pass rusher when they have three first round picks in a draft with astounding depth at the position. Feels like a misallocation of resources unless there’s something more to this."

Grade: B-

The Athletic

"Reddick, 28, hit free agency last offseason and settled for a one-year, $6 million deal with the Panthers. He had 11 sacks in 16 games. Reddick has 23.5 sacks over the past two seasons. The only players with more are T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, Trey Hendrickson and Aaron Donald.

"Eagles GM Howie Roseman is never shy about investing in pass rush. Reddick gives the defense a young, versatile edge defender with upside."

Grade: B

To summarize:

• Sporting News: B
• CBS Sports: A+
• Sports Illustrated: B
• Bleacher Report: A
• SB Nation: B-
• The Athletic: B

Nothing lower than a B-, and an A+ thrown in for good measure? Eagles fans will certainly take that kind of assessment while teams around the league are getting pilloried for some questionable moves. 

I also think SB Nation's explanation misses the mark on the way Howie Roseman likes to build his team. Being concerned about Roseman's investment in pass rushing as a "misallocation of resources" is not exactly salient Eagles analysis, because that's simply his model - plus Reddick's level of game-breaking edge rushing has proven to be one of the most important parts of a productive modern NFL defense.

All in all, Eagles fans should be happy with the team's first big move of free agency. General consensus is the signing was a good idea and a good deal, and Reddick should be one of the team's biggest names and producers for at least the next three years. Fun!

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/nfl-free-agency-grades-eagles-haason-reddick-deal-gets-rave-reviews

To me this signing gives Gannon something that he wants. He wants a LB who can rush the passer. He wants a guy who can stand up and just get after the QB. He tried it with Avery and ultimately Avery just wasn't very good. Now he's got someone who's very good. 

he listed himself as a weapon and i think that’s what the eagles plan to use him as… not just a De but also a lb and a joker who might attack or drop into coverage ( hopefully more attacking then coverage) from anywhere on the field 

8 minutes ago, Cheesteakitis said:

he listed himself as a weapon and i think that’s what the eagles plan to use him as… not just a De but also a lb and a joker who might attack or drop into coverage ( hopefully more attacking then coverage) from anywhere on the field 

I don't think you'll see him drop in to coverage a lot... He's just not very good at it and the Eagles shouldn't try to get too cute with him. 

I don't know where all of you stand on this, but this is an A+ move for me.  It was a huge position of need, we got one of the top guys out there and the deal is not terrible.  He's a Philly guy, he wanted to be here, too.  I view him as a pass rusher and we need help there.  

17 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

I don't think you'll see him drop in to coverage a lot.

And I think this is an important point.  Is he going to be more of a DE for us or what?

I think the Eagles need to draft 2 DE 1 DT and a LB and Cb/S all with first 5 picks it can be done 

2 hours ago, EricAllenPick6 said:

And I think this is an important point.  Is he going to be more of a DE for us or what?

I don't think he's going to be a DE but I guess it depends what you term a DE? He's a pass rusher, he's going to rush the passer pretty much exclusively. 

I don’t know - classically he’s more of a 3-4 lb not a DE who can stop the run or an LB who can cover. I’d rather we got a top WR in free agency and got a top DE, LB and DB in the first two rounds and a best defensive player available in the mid rounds amd re-sign Cox or draft a DT early. Now we need to draft a WR early.  
 

I’ve gotta be honest, this free agency has been disappointing so far - probably because Howie kicked the can down the road so much the past couple years on bad contracts for aging vets. 
 

With Howie’s contract mis steps, we will need to monetize our draft picks this year plus Minshew and Dillard for a few extra second day picks in the next couple years to give us cheap, talented starters.