Hasson Reddick was worth every penny the Eagles paid him in free agency

During the first five seasons of Haason Reddick‘s career, the Philadelphia Eagles faced him three times as an opponent. The most recent meeting was a hard-fought 21-18 come-from-behind victory in Charlotte versus the Carolina Panthers in 2021. Following that one, Howie Roseman decided that he had seen enough of him on the opposite sideline.

Check out Reddick’s stat line versus Philly from the Week 5 win versus Carolina if you’re a little hazy: Eight total tackles (six were solo and two resulted in a loss of yardage). He also registered two sacks and two QB hits. Yeah, the Eagles needed a little Haason Reddick in their lives.

During the most recent free-agency frenzy, Howie’s first major splash was inking the hometown product and former Temple Owl to a three-year, $45 million dollar deal. Ladies and gentlemen, we could have stated this a while ago, but we’ll go ahead and plant our flag now.

That move appears to have worked out for them. We’re going to take things a step further, however. Reddick is a monster!

Haason Reddick is the true NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Haason Reddick’s first two games as an Eagle were the textbook definition of a ‘slow start’ (four tackles, no sacks, no quarterback hits). He caught fire in Week 3 during a divisional game versus the Washington Commanders. He hasn’t looked back since that day.

In Week 3, Reddick equaled his tackle total of the season’s first two weeks in a single showing (four). He also racked up 1.5 sacks and two additional QB hits.

Here are his final numbers from the 2022-2023 regular season: 49 total tackles, 11 TFLs, 16 sacks, 26 additional hits on the quarterback, 68 pressures on 448 pass rush snaps (per Pro Football Focus), five forced fumbles, three pass breakups, and three fumble recoveries. He earned a Pro Bowl nod and a Second-Team All-Pro nod for his efforts, but somehow, he isn’t a finalist for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.

The NFL announced many of the NFL Honors finalists on January 25th: Nick Bosa (San Francisco 49ers), Chris Jones (Kansas City Chiefs), and Micah Parsons (Dallas Cowboys) were all named as finalists for Defensive MVP. Sure, all are deserving, but leaving Reddick out of the running is a huge oversight. Frankly, it’s disrespectful.

Big players make big plays in big games. None that the Eagles have appeared in have been bigger than the two they played during the Divisional Round and NFC Championship Game. Versus the New York Giants, Haason racked up five tackles, a TFL, 1.5 sacks, and three QB hits. In the title game, he outplayed Bosa.

Haason racked up three tackles including one for a loss of yardage. He tallied two sacks, an additional QB hit, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Bosa registered four tackles and two TFLs. You do the math.

No one is taking anything away from Bosa. He’s all kinds of special, but Reddick’s regular season was just as impressive, if not more so. He should be up for the postseason honor.

While it would have been nice to see Haason receive the proper credit for what has been a spectacular season, he isn’t in a contract year. His money is where he’d like it to be. His team has qualified for the Super Bowl.

If you ask him, that’s what he’d tell you is what’s most important. He’s a huge reason why they’re there, and everyone is well aware.