The Tampa Bay Buccaneers knew what was at stake when they added former New York Jets EDGE rusher, Hassan Reddick, which is probably why they added two more EDGE rushers this draft. They wanted to ensure that if the inevitable holdout from Reddick took place, they had reinforcements.
Reddick was absent of Monday’s voluntary OTA session. That doesn’t mean too much, considering it was a voluntary event, but it could be foreshadowing some similar issues with Reddick the Bucs will have to face.
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the Bucs were very cavalier in addressing Reddick’s absence which could mean a couple of things. Either they’re not worried because it’s not mandatory or they signed him knowing it would be a headache to get him on the field. They had to know how this might go given last offseason's Randy Gregory saga. He skipped OTAs and training camp before being released without ever playing a down.
Either way, the Bucs added Elijah Roberts and David Walker in April’s draft and it feels less like having a bonus or more like a plan to make up for whatever they expected from Reddick this season.
Hassan Reddick’s OTA absence proves why Buccaneers drafted two EDGE rushers
The one thing about rookies, they may not be the most talented on the team, but they’re reliable. You can bank on them showing up to workouts whether they’re voluntary or mandatory, and to show up ready to work.
Reddick’s track record proves this is the start of a long pattern that will probably see him out again. Though it was a voluntary workout, history shows this is the beginning of the wrong type of trend. Reddick, for as good as he was in Philadelphia, his holdout with the Jets is practically all he’s known for.
That seems to be following him to Tampa Bay. Now with Walker and Roberts, that should be Tampa Bay’s focus. They should be keeping their focus on their young players because they’re worth investing in. They’re doing more than Reddick is and they’re more reliable at this point.
If Reddick shows up to mandatory OTA then good for him, but I’m not banking on it if I’m Tampa Bay. You drafted two rookies for this reason. It’s time to promote them from plan B to plan A. Because plan A is proving he learned nothing during last year’s frustration.