If the Jets aren't tired enough hearing about how frustrated Jamal Adams is playing for them, they certainly won't like the video that circulated late Sunday night that supposedly shows Adams leaning out of his Mercedes SUV to tell a fan that he is "trying" to get traded to the Dallas Cowboys.
The video is the latest in a long line of animosity that has now boiled up between Adams and the Jets front office. Adams demanded a trade last week to as many as seven teams, and the Cowboys are one of the destinations that Adams prefers to go to.
All of this of course traces back to last season when General Manager Joe Douglas fielded calls from the Cowboys for Adams, but the package in return to New York was too expensive for the liking of Jerry Jones and company. Adams made no bones back then that he was upset the Jets fielded calls for his services, and has made no bones about it that he wants to be a Cowboy.
There is only one of three ways this could end at this point. Either, A, the Jets trade Adams; B, let him pout, even if it means Adams sits out training camp and possibly the season as he waits for a new deal or a trade, or both. Or they could just give him the contract he is seeking.
To be fair the Jets have all the leverage here. They don't have to do anything. Adams is signed for two more years at roughly $14 million - on average - per season. The Jets also own the franchise tag which they can place on the disgruntled safety in 2022.
Moreover, the uncertainty of the salary cap moving forward toward 2021 plays a big role in Douglas' thinking. If revenue is hit hard this year by COVID-19, then it will adjust the cap next season across the NFL. On top of that it's not like the Jets have a lot of cap room to begin with. They only have $24 million in cap space this year, and $58 million next year. Joe Douglas has to wait until at least 2022 to spend freely on the salary cap, when big guaranteed contracts like C.J. Mosley and LeVeon Bell come off the books. By 2022 the Jets will have roughly $122 million in cap space.
By that point the Jets will be trying to re-sign Sam Darnold -- if in fact he turns into the franchise quarterback. Adams would also be a restricted free agent that year. There is no rush here for Douglas, and, again depending on how COVID-19 impacts the cap, those figures could stand to change.
Adams has no leverage, and in turn has dug an enormous hole for himself. Here is a guy who has been propped up as a leader of the New York Jets and he has subsequently washed it all away over a contract dispute that nobody asked for except for maybe Adams representation.
Safeties do not make big money in the NFL, and for as good as Adams is, and can still be, he is not playing a premium position. He should also look at Earl Thomas as an example. Thomas, the former Seattle Seahawk bitched and moaned to get traded to the Cowboys, even holding out for all of training camp in 2018. When he came back, Thomas was injured and lost for the season.
Thomas eventually got paid by the Baltimore Ravens, but it was nowhere near the kind of buck that made Thomas the NFL's top paid safety.
Sometimes patience is better served.
If the Jets are smart, they should either force Adams' hand and dare him to sit out training camp, or simply trade him to a team NOT on his wish list -- like the Detroit Lions.
Comments