Peter King on the New York Jets trading Jamal Adams: 'this needs to be an awakening and a reckoning'

Last week, Peter King dissected the New York Jets trade of Jamal Adams to the Seattle Seahawks. King did not start his analysis of the trade by merely looking at the value of the deal (though he did do that) for the respective teams involved.

Instead, King, an award-winning NFL columnist now with NBC Sports, said this is a crucial moment for the Jets organization beyond the return on investment in making this trade. He talked big picture stuff in light of the Jets moving on from yet another first round pick.

Jets general manager Joe Douglas sent Adams, an All-Pro safety, and a fourth round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft for safety Bradley McDougald and two first round picks (2021, 2022) and a third round pick (2021).

“So, to me, I think this needs to be an awakening and a reckoning for the New York Jets organization. Every time with the exception of Sam Darnold because quarterbacks can't leave. But with the exception of Sam Darnold, every time they've gotten the high draft pick good player - OK in the last 10 years, he never stays never, ever, ever,” King told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

“How about Mohammed Wilkerson? And how about Sheldon Richardson? They were good players and somehow, someway it all crumbled. All I'm saying is that, you know, it's all well and good for the New York Jets, to have two ones in each of the next two years. It's all well and good for the jets to have five picks in the first three rounds next year. That's great - by the way, in what will probably be one of the most uncertain drafts in NFL history. But it's all well and good, but at some point, at some point, Joe Douglas has to build a team, where people want to stop wanting off the island.”

Florio noted that making good draft picks would be a good start for the Jets as the organization has had a couple of poor first round selections over the past decade. Quickly, King weighed in and said that it isn’t enough to simply draft good players while the veteran NFL analyst also praising what Douglas was able to get in return.

“That's why it's vital that as much as final as they pick good players, it's just as vital that they build a good culture,” King said.

“It really has been a disaster [since] under John Idzik and then Mike Maccagnan. And Joe Douglas has only been there for a relatively short period of time and look I think they know what they need to do and it starts at the top and it's gone from Woody Johnson to Christopher Johnson with this vague sense that at some point what [Woody’s] going to come back and, yeah, I look, it's a wake-up call on one hand for the Jets but on the other hand, I am still astonished they got what they got for a guy who was doing everything he could to tear down the building on his way out the door.”

King noted that over the past five years, the Seahawks have averaged the No. 23 pick in the NFL Draft, meaning that the Jets in all likelihood will be gaining a pick late in the first round the next two years. The picks selected have not been great or impact players said King.

It should be understood that track record of picks, however, is more an indictment on Seattle’s drafting ability in recent years than the level of the pick.