Jets Safety Jamal Adams gains support from teammates
Back in November, New York Jets safety Jamal Adams proclaimed, “S—t, I wanna be a Jet for life too.”
Adam’s remark came after Jets’ principal owner Christopher Johnson stated he wanted Adams to spend his entire career with the franchise.
That came less than a month after the NFL trade deadline, which included numerous rumors of Adam’s possible departure. Jets general manager Joe Douglas was reportedly listening to offers for Adams from the Dallas Cowboys. Adams, a Dallas native, quickly denounced the trade rumors on Twitter.
So how does Adams go from possibly being traded in October, to saying he wants to remain with the franchise for life, the next month? Simple. Money talks and b.s. walks. Adams realized that the Jets could extend his contract during the upcoming offseason.
And then the offseason came and Adams took a page straight out of Jerry Maguire: SHOW ME THE MONEY. To which the Jets quickly responded no. New York did not need to engage in extension talks. Adams has two years left on his rookie deal after the team exercised the fifth-year option. And after that, if they did not agree to an extension, they could franchise tag him for a couple of years life the Redskins did with Kirk Cousins.
Everything reached a boiling point in June when Adams responded to a fan comment on Instagram.
“Maybe it’s time to move on!” The star safety said.
Some days later he added, “a lot of talks, no action.” That was about a supposed contract proposal the team promised in January, that he never received.
Some of Adam’s current Jets teammates came to his defense after the most recent trade demand.
In an interview with Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97 Radio, running back Le’Veon Bell stated:
“I think he wants to be [with the Jets], I just think he wants to get paid. I think he’s in the same situation I was three years ago. He’s a young player. He’s been at the top of the game, playing at a high level and feels like, ‘Dang, I just want to get compensated,”
Bell himself is no stranger to trade demands, famously sitting out the entire 2018 season after the Pittsburgh Steelers gave him the franchise tag. The running back was hoping to stay in Pittsburgh long term, with Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, but the team decided it was not worth the headache.
While Bell is all for Adams attempting to get paid, he thinks the safety will stay in New York.
“Me, personally, I hope he doesn’t get traded,” Bell said. “But I don’t think he’ll get traded. I do think he’ll be playing with the Jets. That’s just me, personally, because I don’t think he’s going to get traded. Honestly, why would you trade him? I wouldn’t trade him.”
Along with Bell, Jets linebacker, Avery Williamson showed support for Adams. Appearing on SNY’s Geico SportsNite Williamson said:
“I would definitely love to see him back. I definitely feel like he’s the best safety in the league. I feel like he deserves to get paid. I understand his frustration, he wants to get paid.”
Adams is a star. There’s no denying that. But he has to learn when to pick and choose his battles, and this contract dispute may be one he loses.
