He wouldn't have agreed to not get a new deal. That was the whole point of being traded to a new team.
I wouldn't quite say that. Might be true, but sometimes this stuff is driven by market interest. Not like teams were beating the Eagles' door down for him. Sometimes players just want out due to bad blood over contract disagreements and another team that is willing to discuss it (note that discuss doesn't mean they'll get it done for sure) might look like a lifeline.
Looked up an
Athletic article from back in April just out of curiosity. Doesn't really say it clearly but it insinuates that he's gonna give his all and play "no matter what" in his words. I mean if you say all options are open and no matter what you're gonna give your all, only to reverse course during preseason, that ends up with me wondering what your agent is demanding. This is why I would think both parties, not just the team, would be clear pre-trade and if it's me I'd require ballpark numbers he's looking for that are reasonable and if he's hell bent on the contract being done by the season kickoff then I'd probably not trade for him.
Snippet from the article:
Reddick still hasn’t secured that new contract he wants and it’s unclear if the Jets are in a rush to sign him to one yet. For now, Reddick is a hired gun, a proven and elite pass rusher getting added to one of the NFL’s best defenses. Consider that Reddick nearly had the same number of sacks two years ago (16) that Huff has in his entire four-year career (17 1/2).
“All options are open,” Reddick said about his contract. “Right now I’m just worried about being here, meeting everybody. … But whatever happens, I’m going to be happy, I’m going to give my all no matter what because that’s just who I am as a person. No matter how it goes, how many years, I’m going to be here for however long I’m here for and I’m going to give the team, the fans, everything that I have.”