Jets Should Seriously Consider Trading Jamal Adams

As has been the case for almost an entire calendar year, safety Jamal Adams is not happy with the New York Jets. With two years remaining on his current rookie contract, the Pro Bowler wants a new deal, and wants it now, while the Jets have dug their heels in based on precedent, and the obvious fact that Adams has zero leverage.

Why does Adams have no leverage? It's very simple. He is under contract through 2021 with a fifth year option worth $9.86 million, and the Jets can slap the franchise tag on him after that. Not to mention, as Ralph Vacchiano of SNY pointed out in his article, there is precedent. Since 2011, only 16 of the 233 first round picks have signed lucrative contract extensions before their fourth season.

So the Jets don't really have to do anything right now. They can wait out the entire 2020 season if they wanted to before awarding Adams with a contract extension.

Unfortunately Adams doesn't want to wait. He has dug his heels in, refusing to participate in the Jets voluntary online-off-season program, while his representation has stated they are frustrated with the slow pace of the Jets actions.

Of course trade rumors are swirling again. More than half the teams in the NFL have reportedly contacted the Jets about Adams, but up til now, nothing appears imminent.

Truth be told, if Adams continues to become an issue for the Jets based solely on a contract that hasn't expired, the Jets have no choice but to trade him.

It feels like this is a situation that is only going to get worse before it gets better. Many have compared it to the numerous times Darrelle Revis complained about his contract before the franchise eventually grew fed up and dealt him to Tampa Bay before the 2013 season.

That could happen here.

Last fall Adams stated publicly that he felt betrayed by GM Joe Douglas and Head Coach Adam Gase when word circulated that the Jets tried to market him to the Dallas Cowboys. Adams then went out of his way to say the Cowboys were the one team he would want to play for if dealt. Clearly, those hurt feelings have not subsided between either side.

The Jets would be wise to trade Adams because his value right now would never be higher. While Safety is not a premium position, Adams is a stellar talent who continues to develop into a ball-hawk and hard hitter. A contending team would want that on their team.

Not to mention the Jets are not going anywhere in 2020. Yes, this will be the second year of Adam Gase in New York, another year of the same offense for Sam Darnold to quarterback under, and a slightly improved offensive line. But let's be fair, nobody expects the Jets to do better than 7-9 again this year. If the Jets can get value for Adams, meaning multiple draft picks, perhaps a first round and couple of second or third round picks, they should heavily consider it.

It's not worth the headache, and as the negotiations continue to stall, it is become obvious that this can not end well for either side.

"The Match" of Brady, Manning, Woods and Mickleson Gives America Live Sports & Hope

It didn't count in the standings. There were no major championships at stake. But for five hours on Sunday afternoon, four of the most significant athletics in the world, and of this Century gave sports fans across the Country a reason to cheer.

While Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL all contemplate how they are going to comeback from the COVID-19 pandemic,  the four faces that made up the past two decades of the NFL and the PGA Tour showed us all how it can be done, safely. 

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, two of the best to play the quarterback position in the NFL joined two of the best to ever hit the links in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickleson for a charity round of golf that raised $20 million to go to COVID-19 relief.

And in typical fashion of the year 2020, the day was shrouded by constant, heavy rainfall that even delayed the start of play just a bit, but it certainly didn't dampen the mood, nor the significance of the event.

Because for just a few hours while Brady was driving shots into trees and roughage, and apparently splitting his pants in the process, and while Manning was dropping jokes and trolling his golf mates, and while Woods and Mickleson did their best to keep the game flowing, the biggest statement all four of them made without saying a word was simple, "It's ok for sports to come back."

Yes, NASCAR did return a week prior to"The Match," and in other parts of the world, soccer friendlies are taking place. But, none of them meant quiet as much as seeing these four generational talents from two different sports come together on the same playing field at the same time.

It was fun. It was entertaining. It was the best damn live sporting event we have seen certainly since the Super Bowl in February. And considering what the Nation, collectively, has gone through the past three months, it was a welcome distraction.

The golf wasn't the best, but it was good enough; it was more than good enough. We saw Manning sink a couple of birdies to give he and Woods a three-stroke lead. Brady nail a 150-yard birdie put on the seventh hole to shut up everyone, including Charles Barkley. Mickleson coach and pump up Brady in the back-nine; "That's how we roll" is the phrase of the year now, thanks Phil. And finally, Manning and Woods combining to close the show out on two shots on 18.

It was great. And it didn't even matter that it was raining, but you already knew that.

Perhaps the most surreal moment of the day was on 18, as all four athletes drove their carts up to the green, and in the distance a lit clubhouse stood, beaming, welcoming them to hot meal after play was over. A line of people gathered in front of clubhouse, all of them six feet apart, and likely with masks on. Not sure if they were staff workers from the clubhouse, or media, or maybe family, or a combination of all three.

It didn't really matter.

All that mattered was that on a day where fans couldn't not attend the Match due to social distancing, there was a distant cheering throng of people when Manning, Brady, Woods and Mickleson drove up to 18 to finish The Match, and a photo op for the ages to be taken.

Logan Ryan Expected to Sign With Jets

In desperate need for a shutdown corner, the Jets might be on the precipice of signing former Tennessee Titans cornerback Logan Ryan to a one-year deal.

Ryan would add instant credibility to a secondary that is desperate need of veteran leadership. Ryan, 29, is still in the prime of his career and is coming off a monster 2019 season with the Titans that saw him defend 18 passes, record 4-1/2 sacks, pick off four passes and collect 113 tackles.

Ryan, a local kid from Berlin, New Jersey, who attended and played at Rutgers, is a versatile player who can move both into the slot and outside, making him a tricky player for offenses to prepare for. Remember he is also the guy that recorded a pick-6 on Tom Brady's final pass as New England Patriot in the Wild Card playoffs last season.

This is a huge signing, if it gets done, for GM Joe Douglas who didn't do a lot to address the secondary this offseason, aside from signing and drafting a number of young players. This is the first real impact move for the defense Douglas has made this year.

MLB Owners Approve Proposal to Start Season in July

Baseball could be coming back later this summer, but that could be contingent on an agreement with the Player's Union, a task that will not be easy to achieve according to various sources.

MLB has a proposal ready to present to the Players Union tomorrow that would begin the season in July, with a re-start to Spring Training beginning in mid-June. The plan would be to have all 30 MLB teams play in their home ballparks and play an 82-game season focused strictly on divisional play and interleague against a division from the same region, i.e. AL East vs. NL East. The season would begin around the Fourth of July weekend; playoffs would include 14 teams instead of the usual 10.

But the path to even get that far might be very tricky according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Passan says that the "negotiation" between the Players Union and Major League Baseball could be a "contentious" with money at the center of the issue. The Owners agreed to a 50-50 revenue split with players on Monday to conceivably cover the losses from no gate at ballparks this year. Never has there been a 50-50 split in revenue ever before.

Passan adds that the MLBPA is likely to reject that portion of the plan because of the agreement made in March for players to collect a prorated amount of their regular salaries.  MLBPA president Tony Clark even hinted as much, blasting MLB for taking advantage of the Pandemic to make a hard negotiation against the Union.

 "This is not the first salary-cap proposal our union has received. It probably won't be the last," Clark said. "... That the league is trying to take advantage of a global health crisis to get what they've failed to achieve in the past -- and to anonymously negotiate through the media for the last several days -- suggests they know exactly how this will be received."

The bigger issue is going to be semantics. How can MLB assure the safety of all its players is a big question right now. States are slowly opening, but others are not. New York, for example, remains in a total lockdown. How will this affect the Yankees and Mets? Would they have to play in Florida? The Toronto Blue Jays might have to forgo playing games in Canada this year if this 82-game season goes into effect.

Then there is the question of testing and travel. Do teams use buses only to transport players between cities? Is it safe to send entire teams and organizations onto planes during the crisis? Do players get tested daily? Weekly? Per series? These questions and more need to be answered.

While this is a good attempt by Major League Baseball to try to get the season restarted, the current circumstances do not bode well right now for competitive play to resume. If this deal falls through, it might be reason to believe that the season could get canceled.


 

2020 Schedules Will Be Very Tough for Jets and Giants

When there is a football season, if there is a football season in 2020, it figures to be another rough one for the Giants and Jets. Not only are both teams still in the midst of a multi-year rebuild phase, but the both squads are going to see daunting schedules at hand. Granted, we all know that things can change during the course of a long season, but a gander at these schedules isn't pretty.

The Giants open the season at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. Of course it's anyone's guess if we even have football by Week 1, but if we do the match-up is very intriguing for no other reason then the fact that the Rooney's and Mara's are both related by marriage. Call it a family squabble?

Big Blue will also see the NFC Champion 49ers, Rams and Cowboys within the seasons first five weeks. The oddity of the schedule comes in the middle of the season with Big Blue playing all of its games against the Eagles and Redskins in a period of five weeks.

Meanwhile for the Jets, they have a difficult road this year with the league's second hardest schedule in the NFL based on last season's win percentage. The Jets open the season in Buffalo -- again -- before facing the 49ers in Week 2 at MetLife Stadium.

After a visit to Indianapolis in Week 3, the Jets host the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football in Week 4.

The oddity of the schedule? The Jets face the Dolphins in virtually back to back games in Weeks 10 and 12 with only a bye week separating the contests - an oddity that hasn't happened in the NFL since 1991.

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