REPORT: New York Jets Holdout Is Painfully Similar to a Former Jets Running Back

The New York Jets have the most dramatic holdout situation going on in the NFL. That is because linebacker Haason Reddick is choosing to miss the Jets’ Week 1 game against the San Francisco 49ers to continue his current holdout. It has already cost Reddick a substantial amount of money. If Reddick is not careful, his situation could play out similarly to a recent Jets running back.

Haason Reddick Costing Himself About $6 Million

Reddick has held out in favor of a new contract for the entire offseason. This started when he was traded to the New York Jets from the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, it appears this holdout is going to continue into the regular season.

As a result, Reddick is now going to start forfeiting game checks. These checks average out to about $800,000 per game. He is already facing more than $5 million in fines from the NFL. If his holdout continues throughout the regular season, it can add up to over $14 million.

Former New York Jets RB Le’Veon Bell Had a Similar Fate

The New York Jets have dealt with a situation like this before. However, they arguably benefited from the holdout last time around rather than being negatively impacted by it.

This dates back to 2018. At the time, Le’Veon Bell was one of the best running backs in the NFL. After having the most carries in a single season of his career, the Steelers decided to place the franchise tag on Bell for 2018 rather than offer him a long-term contract.

As a result, Bell was irate and decided to hold out until he received a multi-year contract. Both the Steelers and Bell refused to budge on their positions. As a result, Bell missed the entire 2018 NFL season due to a contract dispute and forfeited about $14.5 million.

The Jets ended up acquiring Bell the next season at a slight discount as a result. New York signed him to a 4-year contract worth just over $52 million. However, Bell ended up playing just 1.5 years with the Jets and only $27 million of that contract was guaranteed.

Le’Veon Bell Boxing After Football

Shortly after Bell retired from the NFL, he decided to start participating in celebrity boxing matchups. Bell has been on the card in these matches about once per year since 2022. He is 2-1 in his career when he boxes in these matchups.

Is he only doing this because he forfeited tens of millions of dollars when he sat out a full season? Only Bell knows the answer to that question. However, sitting out a full season certainly did not help his overall financial status.

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