TRADE! Adams heads West in blockbuster trade
Goodbye AFC, hello NFC! For the fourth time in three years, an NFL team hoping to make a leap to the next level, has traded away two first-round picks to acquire a young superstar. Seattle sent New York safety Bradley McDougald, 1st-round picks in 2021 and 2022 and a 3rd-round pick in 2021 in a deal to land the young superstar, Jamal Adams. The Jets also threw in a 2022 4th-round selection as well. It’s a lot to give up for someone who doesn’t play what is typically considered a premium position, but Adams isn’t a typical safety.
It wasn’t an easy decision for GM Joe Douglas and the Jets, but it was the right one in the end. Jamal Adams was a special talent in the AFC East and one of the best defensive players in the division. Trading Adams for Seattle’s safety, Bradley McDougald (and a few key draft picks), was definitely the smart move on New Jersey’s end.
Given that the Jets don’t have the most stable offense and defense, the 2021 draft might flip things around. For the past 7 years, the Jets have traded/released almost all of their first-round draft picks for players who haven’t changed their team or led them to success. Some Jets fans believe that it is head coach Adam Gase’s job to lead the team to the playoffs, but can he do that without his superstar safety?
Before Adams got traded, he tweeted out: “I don’t feel like he’s the right leader for this organization to reach the Promised Land,” Adams said. “As a leader, what really bothers me is that he doesn’t have a relationship with everybody in the building. At the end of the day, he doesn’t address the team,” Adams added. “If there’s a problem in the locker room, he lets another coach address the team. If we’re playing sh---y and we’re losing, he doesn’t address the entire team as a group at halftime. He’ll walk out of the locker room and let another coach handle it.”
This mistrust of the head coach and players is a big reason why Adams wanted out, he also didn’t see a glimpse of playoff hope since joining the Jets. The Seahawks, on-the-other-hand, had an incredible 2019-2020 season (going 11-5 and advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs) and made it to the playoffs in two of the three seasons since Adams was drafted in 2017. Although the Jets no longer have their star safety, they can still rely on their new safety, Bradley McDougald, and their new draft picks to clean up the team’s mistakes and send them into the playoff hunt.
Who knows whether or not Adams will be prosperous in the NFC, or if the Jets will be prosperous without Adams in the AFC. I know when they play each other on December 13th, I’m definitely going to be watching!
