NFL Insider John Clayton: New York Jets shouldn't trade Jamal Adams
Don’t trade Jamal Adams. Don’t give him a new contract either. That’s the message from longtime NFL Insider John Clayton about the New York Jets disgruntled All-Pro safety.
“They don’t have to do anything,” Clayton said in an exclusive interview with SportsIllustrated.com’s ‘Jets Country’ this week.
“Right now, I think it's hard for them to do anything because when you look at the landscape nobody knows what the cap is going to be.”
Clayton is one of the preeminent national personalities covering the NFL. Inducted in 2007 to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Clayton was with ESPN from 1995-2017.
Clayton says the Jets general manager Joe Douglas’ hands are tied and it is really because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It looks like all or part of this NFL preseason will probably be canceled. The regular season is scheduled to start on time, but it’s likely the stadiums will be either far from capacity if it has any fans at all.
All of that can result in the cap going down. Clayton suggests lost revenue could be in the $3.5 billion range. He suggested very few players should get any contract extensions.
Adams’ standoff with the Jets has been very public. Between social media and leaks to the mainstream media by Adams directly or through his agent, Adisa Bakari, who also represents running back Le’Veon Bell and newly signed offensive lineman George Fant.
Adams has made no secret about his desire to be one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL. He does have two years left on his contract, and Douglas could keep him in a Jets uniform for three years if the team was to apply the franchise tag on Adams after those two years are up.
“Until you know what the cap is going to be, how do you know (if the Jets) can pay $15 million for Jamal Adams?” Clayton said in his interview.
Douglas hasn’t spoken about Adams in a while. Back in February, he told reporters, “The plan is for Jamal to be a Jet for life. I'm not going to get into the specifics of that. But the plan is for Jamal to be here a long time."
Clayton pointed to Douglas having to plan for a new contract for Sam Darnold as another reason he can’t make a knee-jerk reaction to Adams. With all the uncertainty around the NFL, it doesn’t behoove the Jets to trade or sign their All-Pro.
That’s despite Jamal’s wishes.
