Buccaneers Urged Not to ‘Overreact’ to $14 Million Edge Rusher’s Absence

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got burned — bad — when they went after an edge rusher in free agency in 2024 and veteran Randy Gregory didn’t just pull a “take the money and run” on Tampa Bay. In that case, Gregory never showed up to run away in the first place.

That’s why there was such a collective knee-jerk reaction when news broke this week that edge rusher Haason Reddick wasn’t with the team for the start of voluntary OTAs.

Reddick signed a 1-year, $14 million contract with the Buccaneers on March 10 and wasn’t the only one missing from the start of OTAs.

From JoeBucsFan.com: “Other big name veterans were missing, such as Mike Evans, Lavonte David, Tristan Wirfs, Chris Godwin and Vita Vea. But they know their roles intimately while Reddick is a newcomer.”

Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles didn’t help Reddick’s cause much when asked about the 2-time Pro Bowler’s absence.

Reddick isn’t required to be with the Buccaneers until mandatory minicamp from June 2-5.

“I’m sure one of these days we’ll see him,” Bowles told reporters on May 27.

Bowles fanned the flames of overreaction with his answer, which should have been more along the lines of “he’s not required to be here,” and left it at that.

Media Took Reddick’s Absence and Ran With It

Once Bowles said what he said, there was little to stop the media from taking Reddick’s absence and making some pretty illogical leaps.

“Yikes: Haason Reddick has SKIPPED the first day of OTAs for the Buccaneers … Reddick refused to play for MONTHS last season, wanting to get paid by the Jets,” NFL reporter Dov Kleiman wrote on his official X account.

“Should The #Bucs Be Worried About Haason Reddick Missing OTAs?” Pewter Report wrote on its official X account. “Is this Randy Gregory all over again?”

“Haason Reddick, who was traded from the Eagles while seeking a contract extension, has skipped the Bucs first OTA after holding out from playing with the Jets last season,” The Eagles Times wrote on its official X account.

Reddick Coming Off Ugly Holdout With Jets

The Jets traded a 2026 third round pick to the Eagles for Reddick in March 2024 and thought they were getting a player in the last season of his contract who could be the difference for a defense on the verge of a playoff breakthrough.

Reddick thought he was getting a new contract. Thus, the drama.

Reddick held out of minicamp and training camp and requested a trade in August. He missed the first 6 games of the regular season, incurring massive fines until he returned to the Jets for the final 10 games of the regular season. He had his worst year since 2019 with just 1.0 sack as his team stumbled to a 5-12 record.

For Buccaneers fans, his absence brought forth memories of Gregory, who signed a 1-year, $3 million contract with Tampa Bay in April 2024 and was a no-show, no-call for mandatory minicamp and pulled the same act at training camp before the Buccaneers released him on August 22.