Grade the trade proposal: Lions get Haason Reddick from Jets for almost nothing

In a broad sense, it doesn't seem like a fit and a recent reveal seemed to eliminate the possibility. But on Wednesday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported the Detroit Lions "reached out" to the New York Jets about edge rusher Haason Reddick.

The loss of Aidan Hutchinson for the season has brought back the low-hanging fruit ties of the Lions to Reddick in trade speculation. It feels like general manager Brad Holmes making a call to the Jets was mostly due diligence, but until something else is done a trade for Reddick can't be totally ruled out.

ESPN's Bill Barnwell has a fresh list of 12 "win-win" NFL trades, including a proposal involving the Lions acquiring Reddick.

Grade the trade proposal: Lions get Haason Reddick for almost nothing

Here's Barnwell's proposal.

Jets get: 2026 sixth-round pick
Lions get: Haason Reddick

"There aren't many options for the Lions, who have now lost both of their starting edge rushers to season-ending injuries.....With championship ambitions, Detroit needs to do whatever it can to find pass rushers with the potential to make an immediate impact......The best edge rusher who is actually available on the trade market is Reddick, who has spent the year accruing about $5 million in fines for not reporting to the Jets. He has insisted on landing a new contract before he steps back onto the field, and there's little reason to believe he'll give in on those demands now."

"Davenport is a free agent after the season, and while Hutchinson will be eligible for an extension in 2025, both sides might want to wait for him to recover fully from his injury before negotiating a new contract. There's a window here in which the Lions could give Reddick a deal with guaranteed money running through the 2025 season. A two-year, $40 million extension to Reddick's existing deal would allow him to claim some victory for his holdout, while Detroit would land the pass rusher it sorely needs. The Jets aren't going to get the third-round pick they sent to the Eagles for Reddick, but that's a sunk cost now."
-Bill Barnwell, ESPN.com

The Jets clearly aren't going to recoup the third-round pick they sent the Eagles to get Reddick. However, they might be able to do better than a sixth-round pick in a deal to move him. "Might" being the key word, since they have no leverage as long as Reddick continues to not show up.

Reddick also comes with the assumption the team that trades for him will have to give him a new contract. But on what grounds? That he won't show up without a new deal? If that's the case, then you don't trade for him. The Jets invited that problem and got it in full-force, and they'd love for someone to bail them out.

A sixth-round draft pick is fine as the cost to get Reddick in a trade. But Barnwell loses the narrative by fostering the assumption the Lions should then give him a contract extension (two years, $40 million) to allow him to "claim some victory for his holdout."

So what could have been a fine grade here, on a sheer trade proposal level, gets lowered in-kind when Reddick has as much leverage to make demands to/expect anything from an acquiring team as the Jets do (none).

Grade the trade proposal: D-