Jets’ Jamal Adams Requests Trade

The Jets’ situation with Jamal Adams continues to escalate. Shortly after an Instagram reply where the All-Pro safety said it was maybe time for him to move on, he has requested a trade from the Jets, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets.

The team has not granted the request yet, Mehta adds, but this certainly would represent the escalation of a situation that has developed over the past several months. Adams requested the trade Thursday, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter). The former No. 6 overall pick may already have a destination list. Were Adams to be traded to certain teams, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reports he would not request an immediate extension the way he has from the Jets (Twitter link).

Adams became eligible for a contract extension after the 2019 regular season ended. He has continued to pursue one aggressively. Because of the fifth-year option, the Jets have Adams under contract through 2021. Teams often wait on extensions for first-rounders until their fourth seasons conclude, but Adams — using the Panthers’ recent extension for fellow 2017 top-10 pick Christian McCaffrey as an example — wants to be paid this year.

The Jets took trade calls on Adams before the deadline last year — most notably from the Cowboys — but GM Joe Douglas did not unload his top talent. While the situation was believed to be addressed to cool tensions shortly after, heat has intensified in this relationship. In January, Adams says, the Jets told him that they would propose terms of a long-term extension. Last week, the standout safety says that he’s still waiting for it.

He wants a new deal by the regular season’s outset, Cimini adds. Douglas said in February he wants to keep Adams a Jet for the rest of his career, and The Athletic’s Connor Hughes tweets the team still wants to pay him. It just appears the Jets do not want to do so immediately.

Adams has become one of the league’s best safeties, being invited to the past two Pro Bowls and earning first-team All-Pro recognition after his dominant 2019 season. The LSU alum’s next contract would be in line to not only come in atop the safety market — which fellow 2017 draftee Eddie Jackson heads after his $14.6MM-per-year Bears re-up — but exceed it by a considerable margin. Of course, with the salary cap potentially set to decrease for only the second time ever — because of the COVID-19 pandemic — teams have been cautious with extensions. Adams’ Instagram comment indicated he did not want to hear the Jets were using the pandemic as an excuse not to extend him.

It is clear this situation is not close to being resolved. For now, however, Adams remains a disgruntled Jet. The team turned down a Cowboys offer of a first-round pick and a Day 3 selection. Reports of the Jets’ trade talks triggered the rift between Adams and the team.

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