Outside linebacker Haason Reddick has bolstered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense in 2025 with his explosion off the line of scrimmage. The former walk-on at Temple University and one of the league's most heralded pass rushers over the previous decade, has accumulated a sack, eight combined tackles, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits in three games played. Reddick pairs quick-twitch athleticism with change-of-direction ability to disrupt in the trenches. Once he pries the edge, Reddick turns the corner with closing burst to collapse the pocket.
Prior to joining the Bucs, Reddick appeared in 124 career games between the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets, combining to start 83 games and amass 419 tackles (71 for loss), 102 quarterback hits, 59.0 sacks, 20 passes defensed, 18 forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. He became the first player in NFL history to record three consecutive double-digit sack seasons with three different teams, having recorded 12.5 with Arizona in 2020, 11.0 with Carolina in 2021, and 16.0 with Philadelphia in 2022.
Since the start of the 2020 season, Reddick recorded 51.5 sacks — the sixth-most in the NFL over that span and trailing only T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, Trey Hendrickson, Nick Bosa and Micah Parsons. Reddick posted four seasons with double-digit sacks from 2020-24, tied for the second-most in the NFL over that stretch and trailing only Myles Garrett (five).
He credits his early ascension with the Cardinals to then inside linebackers coach Larry Foote. Foote oversaw his position transition and taught him the nuances of dropping into coverage – a trait he now utilizes in Todd Bowles' complex system in Tampa Bay with exotic pressures and fire zones.
"Foote means the world to me," said Reddick on the Bucs Players’ Table Show. "Coming in Arizona as an outside linebacker, he was the first position coach that I had in the league and I learned so much from him in my two years at Arizona that has translated and has stayed with me throughout my whole career. I learned how to drop in coverage and that stuff has carried me so far, more than I think anybody knows and a lot of that knowledge I gained from him. That was one of the major reasons I decided to come here. There were some other teams that wanted me in free agency but knowing that he was going to be here, it made it that much better…Just the time that he took to develop me as a young player in the league and to be around him now again after all these years to reconnect and to see that he is still the same guy, a true player's coach."
Reddick reunited with Foote, the Buccaneers' outside linebackers coach, in Tampa and he has once again helped maximize the pass rusher's strengths. Reddick's ability to accelerate off the line and dynamic playmaking ability in space made him a cookie-cutter fit for Bowles' aggressive-styled defense. With good forward lean and upside on inside twists, Reddick has added another dimension to the Bucs' defensive front.
"He just wants us to be relentless," noted Reddick on Bowles. "He wants us to go out there, put pressure on the QB and make plays. He is a great defensive mind and has been around for a long time. Just to be around somebody like that, to get to understand the game a little bit differently, you actually get to learn things. Being able to be here in my ninth season and just seeing the way he calls the game and being around him in meetings to see what he is thinking, I get to still be a student of the game. To learn from a guy like Bowles is great. I get to continue to build my defensive IQ from being around him and that will continue to make me a better player."
