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There are so many obstacles here . . .
There are many former players, coaches and GM’s who are in the media who just give poll-tested, boring answers, not wanting to upset the apple cart. There is very little danger to what they say.
Former NFL GM Mike Lombardi, now with VISN, is one of the better pro football analysts around, not just because of his experience, but because he shoots from the hip, and doesn’t sugarcoat things.
Recently, when talking about the Jamal Adams contract dispute with the Jets, he pointed out that Adams has a few “whammy’s” that hurt his ability to get traded now.
“The reality for us is simply this – it’s going to take somebody offering me a really good pick and that person is going to have to pay him, so it’s a double whammy and the cap is going to go down next year, so it’s a triple-whammy,” said Lombardi. “There is no a real market, but he’s trying to create a market because he’s got the media in New York to tell his story, but he doesn’t have a story to tell. All he has is I’m a really good player and (he is) going to have to wait to get paid.”
It’s hard to argue with the “Triple-Whammy Theory.”
Not only do the Jets have to find a willing trade partner with the gumption to give up a couple of high draft picks, or a high draft pick and a quality player, but then Adams’ new team would then have to pay him, and there are reports he wants in the neighborhood of $20 million-a-year, which might be hard for many general managers to stomach for a safety.
And often when you sign a player to a lucrative long-term deal, there is a big cap number in the second year of the deal.
As Lombardi pointed out, the salary cap is expected to go down next year; some estimate as much as $30 to $80 million, so that might make some teams hesitate in making an Adams deal. The reason the cap is expected to go down next year is NFL games are expected to have no or limited fans in attendance this year due to the coronavirus, so that going to impact the financial pie the players and owners split, thus impacting the salary cap.
But while there are quite a few obstacles to make a deal, it’s not impossible.
You get the sense that if Adams is traded to a team he’s enamored of, like his hometown Dallas Cowboys, there is a good chance he would be willing to wait a year to get a big money contract. And with no state income tax in Texas, and the amazing marketing opportunities Cowboy players have to make money off the field, Adams might be willing to lower his asking price in 2021, if he goes to Dallas.
So if Jerry Jones, a wheeler and dealer, who desperately wants a ring this year, is willing to give up a first round pick, and a quality player or middle round pick, perhaps this deal could get done.
June 24, 2020
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