Jamal Adams wants trade; 49ers, Eagles are hurting and more
Jamal Adams wants a trade. Now, the New York Jets need to prove they aren’t the same old losers they’ve been for a decade.
Jamal Adams wants to paid. He also wants to win.
Adams feels the only way to accomplish both is a trade away from the New York Jets.
Need proof? Adams’ reported list of desired destinations is as follows:
- Baltimore Ravens
- Dallas Cowboys
- Houston Texans
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Philadelphia Eagles
- San Francisco 49ers
- Seattle Seahawks
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Notice a theme? All eight are expected to be contenders this year, with the possible exception of Houston. The Texans, albeit with their arrow down, won the AFC South last year.
Adams didn’t list Las Vegas. He didn’t list Miami or Los Angeles. He’s not trying to cash in and lay on the beach. He wants to play important games in December and January. February if he’s lucky.
All of this says far more about the Jets than Adams.
Through it all, though, general manager Joe Douglas has an opportunity. New York has been more punchline than potential for the past decade. Adams is the best player the team has employed in recent years. He’s a pillar for a championship team.
Douglas needs to reach out and make things right with Adams. Find common ground. Do it because Adams is terrific, but also send a message. Let everyone know the Jets want to win, and they’re willing to spend.
Trading Adams might recoup draft picks for a rebuilding franchise, but it continues to perpetuate the Jets as losers. While picks are important, so are optics. Especially in a city where headlines are hard to grab.
Last year, the Jets were reportedly deep in talks with the Dallas Cowboys to trade him at the deadline. Understandably, Adams was hurt by the conversations. This offseason, talks on an extension have stalled. Now, with two years left on his rookie deal, Adams wants a new pact.
This brings up what likely trips up the Jets.
General managers typically don’t negotiate new contracts before a player is entering the final year of his deal, save for quarterbacks. This is what led to Jalen Ramsey’s departure from the Jacksonville Jaguars last year. Ramsey wanted a massive extension two years out. Jacksonville wasn’t going to entertain it without a serious discount, consindering its control moving forward. The result was two first-round picks.
Adams is a great player, but if he wants to reset the market, he’s unlikely to get such a contract until after the 2020 season. This is true both of New York and any other club. If Adams wants to be paid now, he needs to take less at the tradeoff of security. It would be a stunning miscalculation if a team reset the safety market with Adams before this season is played.
Still, good teams figure these scenarios out. They communicate with the player and his representation. They continue to build around their stars, giving them a sense of good things on the horizon. Most importantly, they consistently build trust.
Adams wants to be traded so he can win and eventually get paid. The Jets need to decline the request and show he can do both right where he is.
Power rankings
10 oldest NFL stadiums
1. Lambeau Field (1957) – Green Bay Packers
2. Soldier Field (1924 – Not an NFL stadium until 1970) – Chicago Bears
3. Arrowhead Stadium (1972) – Kansas City Chiefs
4. New Era Field (1973) – Buffalo Bills
5. Mercedes-Benz Superdome (1975) – New Orleans Saints
6. Hard Rock Stadium (1987) – Miami Dolphins
7. TIAA Bank Field (1995) – Jacksonville Jaguars
8. Bank of America Stadium (1996) – Carolina Panthers
9. FedEx Field (1997) – Washington Redskins
10. M&T Bank Stadium (1998) – Baltimore Ravens
Quotable
"“The biggest thing from my father is that not a day goes by for any of us where we don’t think ‘What would our dad do?’ We make so many decisions off of what he would say. I mean, when he was around he was always trying to lead us in the right way. For my brothers and I, he was the model for what we are supposed to be. Be respectful to women. Be a good friend. This stuff that’s the right way to live your life.”"
– Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay on his father’s influence
Lindsay is an underrated star in the game today. He’s also a genuine soul who was shaped well by his loving parents. As evidenced both in the piece linked above by NFL Network reporter James Palmer or in my feature with him during his Pro Bowl campaign as a rookie, Lindsay gets life.
In our conversation, Lindsay told me about his mom making his decision as an undrafted free-agent to sign with the Broncos. Lindsay also spoke of giving back, upgrading his parents’ home and making the correct choices.
Lindsay is a success story, one that started with two parents doing right by their son.
Podcast
Random stat
San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts led the NFL in passing yardage in 1979, ’80 and ’81. Each time, he set a new single-season record for the stat, topping out at 4,802.
Info learned this week
1. 49ers dealing with season’s first big injury in Deebo Samuel
Deebo Samuel has a Jones’ fracture. The San Francisco 49ers are already playing from behind.
Following the departure of Emmanuel Sanders in free agency, the 49ers were depending heavily on their second-year receiver to lead the way. Now, with Samuel potentially missing the early portion of the season with a broken foot, the pressure falls on first-round pick Brandon Aiyuk to produce.
If Aiyuk can’t become a key contributor from the jump, San Francisco will need head coach Kyle Shanahan’s diverse run schemes more than ever to help quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo navigate pitfalls. This is especially true if All-Pro tight end George Kittle is being double-teamed without a proven presence on the outside.
The Niners are without Sanders. They are without defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. They are banking on Aiyuk and fellow first-round pick, defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, to replace said stars.
It was already a gamble. The loss of Samuel only makes it a tougher bet to win
2. Loss of Brandon Brooks is big for Eagles, Carson Wentz
No team was more besieged by injuries last season than the Philadelphia Eagles. Unfortunately, 2020 isn’t off to a great start, either.
Star guard Brandon Brooks is out for the year with a torn Achilles, suffered last week during a 60-yard shuttle run. Brooks, 30, is a three-time Pro Bowler whose absence leaves a gaping hole in Philadelphia’s offensive line, one reshuffled this offseason with the departure of longtime left tackle, Jason Peters.
For quarterback Carson Wentz, the loss of Brooks may be devastating. Wentz has dealt with injuries throughout his career and while any pressure is bad, interior pressure is the biggest threat to a signal-caller’s health. With Brooks gone, general manager Howie Roseman must get creative.
However, Philadelphia is in a brutal cap crunch come 2021. So any idea of a big move, such as trading for New England Patriots’ star guard Joe Thuney, is likely a pipe dream. Thuney is on the franchise tag and while the Eagles could afford him this year, he’d almost assuredly walk next offseason.
The Brooks injury could mean fourth-round pick Jack Driscoll of Auburn. The good news? Driscoll started two years with the Tigers in the SEC (and two at UMass before transferring). The bad news? He’s a rookie.
For Philadelphia, it’s next-man-up time.
3. NFL players discouraged from practices until training camp
Some players had been getting together in groups to workout before training camp hit this summer. Now, the NFLPA and NFL are asking them to stop.
With COVID-19 ramping up in Florida, Texas, Arizona and other states, the league has seen team employees — and in some cases players — enduring positive tests. The Buccaneers, Cowboys, Texans and 49ers are among the known clubs dealing with cases in recent days and weeks, continuing to cloud the future of what both camp and the 2020 season may look like.
The main concern for the NFL is what does the summer look like?
We’re a month out from training camp and cases across the United States are rising, while the death curve thankfully continues to trend down. Commissioner Roger Goodell, league chief medical officer Allen Sills and others will need to keep close watch on the data and make sense of trends, while also working with the NFLPA to ensure safety.
It’s going to be a very, very tough balancing act.
4. Cowboys, Dak Prescott still have much work ahead
Dak Prescott will sign his franchise tender. Still, the clock continues to tick.
By signing the tag, Prescott ensures a $31.4 million payday should the sides not agree to a long-term deal prior to the deadline of July 15. Furthermore, the decision means Prescott won’t hold out, because a player under contract who does so, even for one day, loses an accrued year towards free agency under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Still, Ed Werder of ESPN reports the sides are not much closer to a deal. Should Dallas not sign Prescott to an extension and tag him again next year, the hit becomes $37 million. Good luck to Jerry Jones and Co. with that figure.
Dallas has spent the better part of a year spinning its proverbial wheels with Prescott. With only three weeks until the deadline, the time for posturing is quickly evaporating.
5. Jim Kiick was ahead of his time
A third-down back with good hands in a rotational role? Sounds like ample players today.
It sounded like Jim Kiick, and virtually Kiick alone, in the early 1970s.
On Sunday, the former Miami Dolphins star passed away at 73 years old. He won two Super Bowls including being a key member of the undefeated ’72 squad.
Following the ’71 season, Kiick lost snaps to rising star Mercury Morris, who formed a thunder and lightning tandem with future Hall of Fame fullback Larry Csonka. However, Kiick became a threat on third down, swinging out of the backfield. He also owned a nose for the goal line as a runner, totaling 33 touchdowns in his career.
Kiick isn’t a Hall of Famers. He’s never going to have highlight films dedicated to him.
Yet, he was one of the most important players on an iconic NFL team. Not a bad legacy.
History lesson
The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers are the ultimate athletic example in perseverance.
From their inception in 1933 through 1971, Pittsburgh hadn’t won a single playoff game. Then, a victory in 1972 on the Immaculate Reception by Franco Harris, vanquishing the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium.
After going one-and-done in ’73, the Steelers reeled off four Super Bowl wins in six years, trouncing the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys (twice) and Los Angeles Rams.
No team has won so many titles in such a span since.
Parting shot
George Preston Marshall was a pillar of the fledgling NFL. He was also an unabashed racist.
Both things are true at the same time.
On Friday, his statue outside RFK Stadium was taken down. Marshall, who died in 1969 at age 72, was the original owner of the Redskins when they entered the league as the Boston Braves in 1932.
Marshall doesn’t deserve a tribute. Nobody who needed integration forced on them by the United States government is worthy of praise. Washington was the last team to suit up a black man on the field, finally doing so in 1962 after trading for Hall of Fame running back Bobby Mitchell. Upon his arrival, Marshall demanded Mitchell sing dixie at a team luncheon.
Speaking of Dixie, the song “Hail to the Redskins” was originally ended by the line “fight for Old Dixie.”
Of course, the team is also named the Redskins.
Marshall deserves credit for being a stable owner in a time of chaos in the NFL. He deserves credit for drafting Sammy Baugh and continuing the push for a more aggressive passing game in the 1940s and ’50s.
Yes, Marshall deserves credit. But he also deserves to be called a racist, and he certainly doesn’t deserve a statue.