Thumbs up or down: Eagles beat writers weigh in on the Haason Reddick signing

I can’t say I was surprised by the Haason Reddick signing, or that it was the Eagles’ first splash into free agency. The Eagles have long prioritized the pass rush, and general manager Howie Roseman made it no secret that he would address the defensive line this offseason. “I would be very surprised if we didn’t do something there,” he said earlier this month. Reddick was on my radar because, well, he’s a good edge rusher, and his versatility would allow him to play multiple roles in Jonathan Gannon’s multiple fronts. He’s more the former than he is the latter, but he’ll at least offer the threat of dropping into coverage more than Derek Barnett did.

But I had doubts the Eagles could afford the 27-year-old Reddick with so few young, top-shelf options in free agency. I either overestimated the former Temple Owl’s market or underestimated his desire to return to Philadelphia — or some other overlooked variable — because it looks like Roseman got himself a steal. Reddick’s three-year contract, when he signs it Wednesday, will be worth $45 million with $30 million guaranteed. His per-year average of $15 million is only slightly higher than Josh Sweat’s $13.3 million, and Sweat signed a team-friendly deal heading into his fourth year. The salary cap is also set to explode next year and Reddick’s number will look like peanuts compared to other top edge rushers by then.

Reddick isn’t in the class of the elite at his position. He’s kind of a rare bird at 6-foot-1, 235 pounds. He’s explosive and can turn the corner on most tackles, which is his bread and butter. He has that outside speed to set up a counter move inside or a spin, but he lacks obvious strength. He can also get washed out against power run offenses. But the NFL is a passing league, and pressuring the quarterback is of the utmost importance. Reddick’s 23.5 sacks for two teams over the last seasons — the Panthers and Cardinals — is more than Barnett (21.5) had in five seasons here. The Eagles haven’t had a defender register consecutive double-digit sack seasons since Trent Cole in 2009-11 (12.5, 10 and 11). Reddick also notched 34 quarterback hits over that span.

That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll eclipse that mark in Philly, but the Eagles have enough firepower up front to get him into one-on-one situations. I’m also interested to see how creative Gannon can be with a movable piece like Reddick. While it would be only normal to question why the Panthers allowed him to walk, or why there wasn’t more interest to drive his salary higher, I think for the Eagles’ purposes they did well to acquire an upgrade and at relative cost.

Reddick joining the Eagles makes sense on multiple fronts. The Eagles not only covet pass rushers more than most teams, but they also had a glaring lack of depth on the edge that needed to be addressed. Enter Reddick: a 27-year-old Camden native who played his college football at Lincoln Financial Field.

Reddick was miscast as an off-ball linebacker early in his career and struggled, but he has become an impact player the last two seasons as a full-time pass rusher. Only Aaron Donald, Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, and Trey Hendrickson have more sacks than Reddick’s 23.5 over that time.

Sack production can be fickle, though. In terms of pressures, Reddick is ranked 36th by Pro Football Focus, which is four spots below Sweat. This is the cautionary tale of using any lone pass-rush metric to measure a player; each one often tells only part of the story.

Still, watching Reddick, it’s easy to see why he’s put up such impressive sack numbers. He has an explosive first step and can occasionally get to the quarterback virtually untouched with a well-timed speed rush. In fact, he did exactly that for one of his two consecutive sacks against Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata last season.

The $15 million per year number is a reasonable, if not slightly favorable one for the Eagles, and Reddick has been durable throughout his career.

Reddick seems like a solid fit as a “SAM” linebacker in the Eagles’ base 3-4 defense and can be a stand-up edge rusher when the defense is in sub packages, but there are still a few questions there.

Genard Avery, the team’s SAM ‘backer last year, spent just as much time in coverage as he did rushing the passer. Avery’s playing time was limited mostly to early downs, which skews the numbers, but he had 86 coverage snaps compared to 88 pass-rush snaps. Reddick will have more rushing opportunities as a three-down player, but his early-down responsibilities could resemble Avery’s.

He may be fine in space, but dropping Reddick into coverage isn’t taking advantage of what he does best. It’s also worth noting he hasn’t been an elite run-stopper, which might have something to do with his 6-1, 235-pound stature.

All that said, Reddick will get to the quarterback. That’s what the Eagles value most from defensive players and that’s why this signing is a solid one.

Monday’s big news gave me throwback vibes to my childhood days when I played Pokemon on Game Boy. At the beginning of the game, I always chose Charmander as my starter. Over time, I would evolve him into Charmeleon and eventually, the vaunted Charizard. That evolution phase could be likened to how the Eagles addressed their need for more help with their pass rush.

After completely whiffing last offseason when they signed veteran defensive end Ryan Kerrigan, who finished with just three tackles over 16 games, the Eagles underwent a massive upgrade at the edges with the signing of Reddick. The Camden native and Temple product has tallied 23.5 sacks and 34 quarterback hits over the past two seasons. That’s robust production from a versatile player who is only 27.

While Reddick has been a sack monster, even he can acknowledge his own versatility. On his social media bio, he describes himself as a “Weapon for the Philadelphia Eagles” rather than listing a specific position, such as defensive end or linebacker. Gannon is bound to enjoy deploying Reddick across the field. He should start immediately on the opposite side of Sweat, with veteran Brandon Graham also in the mix as he returns from a torn Achilles injury.

Gannon was highly criticized during his first season after the Eagles finished 31st in the league in sacks, although that final tally can be a little deceiving. The defense still put together a solid pressure percentage (13th) and it was superb in pass-rush win rate (4th), according to TruMedia. However, the Eagles struggled to actually get opposing quarterbacks on the ground. Reddick should help the team tremendously in that department.