New York Jets “Winners” and “Losers” In Jamal Adams Trade

We knew it was coming, but now it is official, the New York Jets have traded safety Jamal Adams to the Seattle Seahawks.

New York Jets fans have endured more than their fair share of false promises, head shaking managerial decisions, season upon season of watching other teams make deep playoff runs, and someone else ultimately hoisting up the coveted Lombardi Trophy.

The latest saga has been the seven-month Jamal Adams contract dispute (or perhaps better said, the Adams Circus).

Two years into his four-year rookie contract, Adams wanted more. He voiced his opinion on social media, to the press, and really to just about everyone, while calling out his (former) head coach, general manager, and even his former owner.

Well, the saga is officially over now as Adams departs to the pacific northwest to a Pete Caroll led Seattle team who believes they are one defensive piece away from contending for a Super Bowl.

The price they paid, however, wasn’t cheap:

The Jets now have two first-round picks in each of the next two drafts, as well as a third-round pick, and safety Bradley McDougald to work with, and one can only wonder who got the better of the deal; who “won” in this blockbuster deal.

I won’t be bashful: I think the Jets Absolutely “won”.

The New York Jets made it very clear that they weren’t willing to depart with Adams without at the very, very least, a first-round pick.

While Jamal Adams boycotted and provided the team a list of “preferred landing spots”, Joe Douglas and company stood firm, clearly not blown away by any team’s offer. One could only wonder what other teams may have offered for a safety, albeit a first-team all-pro safety, but still not a premium position in the modern NFL.

As the saga continued and we watched from the sidelines, things only got worse. As Jamal said his personal goodbyes to teammates, he posted photo cropped pictures in other team’s jerseys and continued a circus which Jet fans are all too familiar with.

The New York Jets: The team that never ceases to create laughable headlines and noise from within. It seemed inevitable this was going to go on for a long, long time.

Then, Saturday, July 25th, 2020 happened.

A deal with Seattle involving, as mentioned, two first-round picks and a third-round pick in the next two drafts and veteran hard-nosed safety Bradley McDougald.

Only a mad man would be able to say “no” to this offer.

Joe Douglas had come out in recent months saying it was “his job to listen to all offers, regardless of his own personal feelings on the subject”.

Well, Joe Douglas did something which management from the past two Jet regimes haven’t been competent enough to do:

He listened, he waited, and he took the absolute best deal available for the long-term success and future of the New York Jets, as he finally picked up the phone with the Seattle Seahawks and pulled the trigger, jettisoning the Jamal Adams circus out of town for good.

Say what you want about Joe Douglas in his early tenure as general manager, but since he took over the reigns, he has approached every single football decision with laser beam focus, working out complicated logistics like a magician of sorts, and any fan with a dose of common football sense can clearly ascertain that this man has a plan for the club, a plan that involves winning, and perhaps something just as important as winning:

A long-term plan.

Quite honestly, Jamal Adams was one of my personal favorite Jets.

I followed him on social media, I watched him in person and cheered for him alongside 40,000 other fans in East Rutherford, New Jersey. But I understand that football is a business, and if you take things too personally, even as a fan, you almost always end up disappointed.

But what Joe Douglas was able to gather for one player; even one of the best safeties in football is quite impressive, and speaks volumes to the long term future he has his eyes set on.

Also, it is worth noting to the die-hard fan who may be distressed that this was also about simple math: there was no possible way the Jets could afford to pay C.J. Mosley, Le’veon Bell, and potentially offer Sam Darnold a contract extension, all while agreeing to pay Jamal Adams north of fifteen million dollars a year.

No way.

One could also argue that if Adams truly wanted to be a “team player” or better yet, a leader, he would have patiently and quietly waited, worked with management to find common ground, and not make a sideshow circus out of the entire situation, in what otherwise has been one of the best off-season’s the Jets have had in years.

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What’s done is done now, but as a fellow die-hard Jet fan like the rest of you, I can’t help but honestly and truthfully thank Jamal Adams for giving us the draft stock and leverage to further address the positions of need in which Joe Douglas fervently tried to fix in just one offseason/draft, and in turn help to take us that much closer to the promised land which has eluded us for fifty years.

An elite pass-rusher, a star wide receiver, a monster tight end? Sure, why not? Thanks to Jamal Adams, these are all viable options on the table now, and for the next two years to come.

Jet fans, hold your heads high and be happy that the circus has finally left town. We’ve had our share of distractions and been laughed at for too long.

What a breath of fresh air to have a general manager who is willing to put the team first (clearly something Jamal Adams had no intention of), and have sights set on a much brighter future; a future we as fans have waited far too long for, a future we deserve.

Next. New York Jets: Thoughts and Grades on the Jamal Adams Trade. dark

You were a good Jet, Jamal, and thanks for giving us the huge draft stock to set us up for future success beyond what you could have offered.

See you week 14.

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