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ESPN’s Adam Schefter’s announcement today should not come as a surprise.
Schefter announced today Jets safety Jamal Adams will likely not participate in the team’s virtual off-season workout program this year because he wants a new contract.
Once again, not a surprise, but you have to wonder where this is going.
Adams essentially has two years left on his rookie deal. He has one-year left on the actual contract, and then the Jets can pick up his fifth-year option.
Many teams are reluctant to do new deals at this stage of the game. The CBA allows them to keep first-round rookies under wraps for five years, so why not take advantage of it.
Look at Los Angeles Rams CB Jalen Ramsey, who we know isn’t shy about telling us how he feels. He’s playin on his fifth-year option this year. Yes, he was able to shoot his way out of Jacksonville becoming a malcontent and faking an injury last year, but from contract standpoint, he’s not making any threats, that we’re aware of. His rookie deal expired after the 2019 season. He will make $13.7 million this year on his fifth-year option.
New Cleveland Browns right tackle Jack Conklin, who the Jets showed some interest in, was a free agent this off-season because Tennessee didn’t pick up his fifth-year option. But he had completed his four-year, first-round, rookie deal.
There are many other examples like this. So you get the idea. It’s not that common for a first-round player, to demand a new deal, after three years.
So if most teams don’t do new deals three years in, with first-round picks, why should Joe Douglas?
Also, if Douglas does it, it sets a terrible precedent for his first-round picks moving forward, who will likely want their deals ripped up after three years.
Now Adams could make the argument that a safety from his draft, Chicago’s Eddie Jackson, got a new deal after three years. But first of all, he rookie deal was nowhere near as lucrative as Adams, since Jackson was a fourth-round pick. He got a four-year deal for $3.1 million. Adams got a four- year contract for $22.2 million, and the fifth-year option will be lucrative.
But if Adams were to agree to the same deal Jackson, also a two-time Pro Bowler, received, a five-year deal, for $58 million, with $33 million guaranteed, maybe Douglas would consider it. But he probably wants more. He probably thinks he’s better than Jackson, but some disagree. Jackson has 10 picks in three years, and Adams has two. Adams is better against the run.
If the holdout gets ugly, perhaps the Jets revisit trying to trade Adams. The Jets need an edge-rusher in the worst way. How about a trade of Adams to Jacksonville for Yannick Ngakoue (if the Jets an come to terms with the defensive end on a new deal).
Or maybe a trade of Adams to Dallas for a first-round pick. There were talks between Dallas and the Jets aout Adams at the 2019 trade deadline. Adams threw a tizzy when these rumors got out, calling out Douglas. Perhaps Adams going after Douglas publicly left a bad taste in the GM’s mouth.
We will see where this goes, but doesn’t an Adams for Ngakoue trade make some sense if this gets really ugly?
April 17, 2020
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