The first domino has fallen in the Arizona Cardinals signing of J.J. Watt.
The Cardinals have decided to forego using their franchise tag on Haason Reddick and will allow the 26-year old pass rusher to test free agency.
From Adam Schefter:
Cardinals’ LB Hasson Reddick, who had a team-high 12.5 sacks and 16 quarterback hits last season, was informed that he will not be tagged, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2021
The Cardinals had a decision to make and decided that signing the soon-to-be 32-year old Watt to a two-year $31 million contract was a better decision than franchise tagging and asking Reddick to repeat his 2020 performance.
Now, who will be willing to pay Reddick and will that mean he goes somewhere else for the rest of this career?
In his Reddick finished with 20 sacks, 33 tackles for loss, 32 quarterback hits. He forced nine fumbles and recovered one.
The funny thing is, those numbers are basically all from this year: 12.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits and six forced fumbles.
There should not be a question on how they replace his production as they will get Chandler Jones back from injury and of course bringing in Watt.
However, they will need another edge rusher and who that will be will be interesting to watch.
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