One of the Arizona Cardinals’ many free agents this offseason is linebacker Haason Reddick. Will he be back in 2021?
Reddick, who appeared to be a bust for the first three years of his career, broke out, getting a full season of playing outside linebacker.
In a rotational role to start the year, he had five sacks in seven games. He went five games without a sack and then blew up. He had five sacks against the New York Giants and had 7.5 in the final four games, finishing with 12.5.
He added 15 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits and six forced fumbles as well.
Now he looking to cash in. He believes he can be an impact pass rusher and will seek top money if he can.
What will the market bear? His case is interesting. He is undersized even as a 3-4 outside linebacker but his athleticism and effort can make up for that, but it seems unlikely a 4-3 team would view him as an every-down defensive end. He had his career season at the perfect time as he is still only 26 years old, but he could potentially have what happened to Markus Golden last offseason happen to him, where there was no market for him and he had to return to his former team on a low unrestricted free agent tender.
The Cardinals likely want him back but won’t want to pay him top dollar, but using the franchise or transition tag on him will tie up too much cap space.
He will probably have to test the market.
Reddick’s 2021 return: Questionable
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