The elephant in the room with Adams

You have heard the comments in recent weeks, from both men, about their desire to play together again.

Talking about Jets QB Aaron Rodgers and Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams, his former Green Bay teammate.

But there is more to this Adams banter than meets the eye.

This isn’t just about Adams wanting to be reunited with Rodgers, it’s about the receiver wanting a new contract.

That is the elephant in the room.

And it’s not being talked about enough.

“Davante Adams wants a new contract,” said former NFL GM Mike Lombardi on VSIN “Davante Adams wants to get paid because he is no different than anybody else who has seen this receiver market go insane and wants to get paid.”

Adam signed a monster deal two years ago with the Raiders that averages $28 million a year but as you often see with top receivers, when that deal gets topped, they want to go back to the table.

“Right now, Davante Adams is sitting down there saying, ‘Wait a minute, where is my scratch? I made 28 million per year. I’m one of the best receivers in the league, I’m $7 million behind Justin Jefferson.'”

But it should be pointed out that Adams will turn 32 in December, and Jefferson, of the Minnesota Vikings, just turned 25 in June.

Some might argue that paying a soon-to-be 32-year-old receiver $28 million a year is pretty fair.

But we know that this is not how it works, especially these days, especially at the receiver position, where contract envy is aplenty.

“[Adams’ desire for a new deal] has been communicated to the Raiders all along,” Lombardi said. “He did not come to the offseason. He came to minicamp and didn’t do anything.

“I think this contract is going to be a problem.”

So why would the Jets want to inherit another contract dispute, like they seemed to with defensive end Haason Reddick, after acquiring him in a trade with Philadelphia this off-season?

“I think there is smoke here because Adams wants a new contract,” Lombardi said. “I don’t know how much smoke there is that the Jets want to trade for him. The Jets still need to deal with Haason Reddick, so that is an issue they’ve got to deal with.”

Fair point.

Not only do the Jets have the Reddick contract nightmare to deal with, but let’s not forget they have some big contract situations, with four players from their 2022 draft (Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson and Breece Hall) to deal with shortly.

In a cap sport, when it comes to contracts, you can’t take a short-term view just looking at the here and now but you must plan for the next few years.

And even right now, it’s questionable if the Jets can afford Adams. They probably could if they take on his current cap number at $16.8 and rework that a little, since they don’t have $16.8 million in cap space right now. But to trade for him, and give him a deal like Jefferson, doesn’t seem pragmatic for Gang Green, all things considered.

July 22, 2024

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