Dropping back to throw against the Carolina Panthers next season might be tough on the opposing quarterback. Not only will you need to keep an eye on Brian Burns off one edge, but you might have to keep the other on the other edge and the newly acquired Haason Reddick. The pass rusher has signed with the Panthers on a one-year deal.
Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network was among those announcing the terms of the contract:
Haason Reddick gets $8 million max with $6 million guaranteed to head to the #Panthers and rejoin his college coach at Temple Matt Rhule
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 17, 2021
Reddick’s is coming off his breakout campaign, which finally happened in the past season when he amassed 12.5 sacks, five in one game against the Giants in Week 13, eight quarterback hits, 35 quarterback hurries, six forced fumbles, and 18 coverage snaps. The primary difference? Arizona finally scrapped its weird intent to make Reddick an inside linebacker and just let him go nuts from the edge. At that point, the “bust” label went away. Sometimes, it isn’t the player’s fault.
#Cardinals Haason Reddick, their first round pick in 2017, has been mostly a bust in his career.
Well, he has 5 sacks today against the #Giants, setting a new single-game team record. pic.twitter.com/nA3QIxNkex
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 13, 2020
Reddick has learned to make life a nightmare for offensive tackles with a playing style that makes one wonder if his ass is on fire, and he also has the speed and acumen to find the open gap anywhere and stunt his way through multiple gaps to get the quarterback. At 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, he’s not your typical bull-rushing edge defender, but if you’re in charge of a defense that places a premium on aggressive speed from the outside, you could do far worse than giving Reddick a pretty decent contract. The Panthers are one such team, making this a great fit because of plays like this:
Haason Reddick continues his sack streak. #RedSea
📺 + 📱: #SFvsAZ on @SportsOnPrimehttps://t.co/maHpnF6lzS pic.twitter.com/e7mWWhBodK
— NFL (@NFL) December 26, 2020
Then there are studies like this that show Reddick’s 2020 season is primed to continue:
Haason Reddick broke out in his first season as a full-time pass rusher in 2020, generating the 5th-highest pressure rate (14.1%) in the NFL (min. 200 pass rushes).
Reddick generated 50 pressures on 355 pass rushes in 2020 (first season of his career exceeding 200 pass rushes). https://t.co/J2i2Ch0Bo1 pic.twitter.com/Oh1Lvct4gG
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) March 17, 2021
Reddick is now reunited with his college coach, as he played for Matt Rhule at Temple. That worked least season for Robby Anderson, who gave the Panthers a downfield presence in the passing game, and it sure looks like it could work this year on the defensive side of the ball with both Burns and Reddick coming off the edge.
