We're only a few months into Haason Reddick's $14 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he's already giving weary fans pause.
The Bucs reported for OTAs on Monday, but their pricey offseason addition wasn't among the players who showed up. It's worth pointing out that it's not a mandatory camp, but given what happened last year, it's notable that Reddick skipped the first day.
Whether or not he shows up is something head coach Todd Bowles is wondering aloud.
After Reddick was a no-show at the first day of Buccaneers OTAs, Todd Bowles dropped a line dripping in both sarcasm and disappointment.
“I’m sure one of these days we’ll see him,” Bowles said, via JoeBucsFans.
Again, it's not mandatory and the Bucs didn't bake in any incentives to motivate Reddick to show up, but that's part of what makes his absence so bothersome. Tampa Bay is betting on him using last year's debacle with the Jets as motivation to turn back in to the All-Pro he was with the Eagles, but that gamble is off to a rough start.
Haason Reddick skipping OTAs sends the wrong kind of message to Buccaneers
Bowles did note that some players weren't attending due to dealing with lingering injuries from last year, but he didn't disclose who that applied to. We're only left to assume it's Reddick, which also wouldn't be an ideal situation.
Reddick held out on the Jets after not getting a contract extension following a trade from Philly, which caused a ton of drama that was magnified by how terrible things went for New York. The Bucs are also less than a year removed from signing Randy Gregory in free agency, only to have him ghost the team before unceremoniously being released a few months later.
This won't end up being that situation -- although the Bucs going for the trifecta of being ghosted would truly be something. What makes Reddick skipping OTAs a bummer on the surface is that it's the first opportunity for him to working with his new team and he's opting to not do that.
He probably has his reasons, and this shouldn't sour the relationship, but it's less than ideal to have this be the way he starts things after what happened last year in New York.
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