Bucs have the inside track when it comes to getting Haason Reddick back to his Pro Bowl form

Haason Reddick was brought in to help reignite the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass rush on the outside, but whether or not he can do that is in question thanks to his awful 2024 season with the New York Jets.

It's a complicated situation, but it boils down to money. Reddick and the Jets couldn't work things out and it eventually led to him missing every single bit of offseason activities and the first seven games of the season.

As a result, Reddick matched his career-worst in sacks for a single season with 1.0 and he played the lowest amount of snaps at 393. He turns 31 in September, so it's more than fair to wonder just how impactful he can be in 2025. 

Fortunately for the Bucs the first box is checked: motivation. Reddick is coming in with the right mindset that can help him get back on track.

"He's coming in with a big chip on his shoulder," Bucs run game coordinator/outside linebackers coach Larry Foote told reporters earlier in the week. "He's upset, and we like [that] he's pissed off. He wants to show this league that he's one of the premier passer pass rushers and we have a spot for him. He's motivated. He's a guy who loves training, loves working out, but he has something to prove, and we're here to help him."

At the same time, however, motivation doesn't guarantee success. There are plenty of other factors that go into that recipe and two big ones are how the Bucs coach up Reddick and how they deploy him on game day.

When it comes to the former, Foote gives the Bucs a leg up, as he coached Reddick during the two-time Pro Bowler's first two years in the league.

"We have a tight relationship," said Foote. "... We stayed in touch even when I left Arizona and I just look at him, you know, as family, basically. He'd been over to my house several times out in Arizona, and my wife and kids know him, so I get to really coach him old school."

Knowing which buttons to press and how to effectively convey messages/communicate is key for Reddick at this point in his career. Reddick may be motivated, but we saw last year just how highly regarded money is in his world. If things start to go wrong in Tampa Bay, it's impossible to sit there and say Reddick will stay on the "straight path" for lack of better phrasing.

Having a guy like Foote, who can use their relationship to connect on a deeper level, can help things stay on the right track. And if things are going swimmingly, then Foote can help make that situation even better, potentially.

Either way, the Bucs have a safety net. I'm sure they hope they won't have to use it because if they don't it means Reddick is kicking ass. And if that happens, it's safe to bet the Bucs pass rush can get back to its old ways.