Adams Trade Is Panic On Jets Flight To Oblivion
If we’ve learned anything about Bill Belichick over the last few years, it’s that his words mean squat when they’re not delivered by Tom Brady.
So when Belichick, who admittedly has a contemptuous relationship with his former employer, lashed out at Jets owner Woody Johnson on Monday night’s “ManningCast” during New York’s 23-20 loss to Buffalo for firing Head Coach Robert Saleh, take it with a grain of salt.
Too soon to make such a move? Where has Belichick been these last few years? Oh, that’s right—running the Patriots into the ground after his Hall of Fame quarterback Brady departed.
However, Belichick’s too-cute-for-school “Ready, fire, aim” disparagement of Johnson can be applicable in other moments, such as Tuesday’s bombshell announcement that the Jets traded a conditional third-round pick to acquire Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams.
Panic on Jets Flight 2024. With their season on the verge of crashing at 2-4 and headed into a tough road game at Pittsburgh on Sunday, Johnson wasn’t going to stand still and watch it burn. While it would be absolutely incorrect to say that this trade added fuel to the fire, it’s more show than dough. Per USA Today, the trade barely moved the Jets playoff odds—they’re still below 50%.
Though the “conditions” whereby the conveyed pick will be upgraded to a 2 are improbable at best (Adams would have to earn All-Pro honors or be on the Jets AFC Championship or Super Bowl roster), Johnson agreed to take on the full remainder of Adams’ contract, which equates to about $11.6 million for this season, per overthecap.com, before the reported restructuring. The last two seasons of the contract that currently calls for $36-plus million salaries/bonuses for each of those years are not guaranteed. Still, a third rounder by itself is an awfully hefty price for a 31-year old rental who may or may not have lost a step or two since his last All-Pro season in 2022.
Never mind one that doesn’t block, tackle, or kick field goals. Those were the proximate causes of Monday’s defeat. The Jets could have used some of that money to appease holdout edge rusher Haason Reddick, whose new agent was granted permission by Johnson to seek a trade. Instead, we’re stuck with seeing Micheal Clemons continue to earn 77% of the defensive snaps despite a plethora of bad reps, including the one where Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen put the final nail in the Jets coffin on Monday night by sucking Clemons to the inside before beating him around the left edge to gain a first down with New York unable to stop the clock from ticking to zero thereafter.
Adams, assuming he is healthy (he hasn’t played since September 22 due to a hamstring injury but must have passed his physical to make the trade official), should make the Jets more exciting. Like fellow Jets receiver Allen Lazard, he is tight with quarterback Aaron Rodgers from their Green Bay days, so there is a built-in trust.
Of course, Adams is also like Lazard in that they are both drop machines—ProFootballFocus.com dinged Adams for 9 drops last season, the third-most in the league. Among the 45 wide receivers with at least 25 targets this season, Adams has the 12th-highest drop percentage while Lazard’s six total drops put him fourth. If you’re ready to pin that on lousy Las Vegas quarterbacking, Adams registered at least nine drops during three of his eight seasons with Rodgers in Green Bay, with drop percentages below 8% in just three others.
As for the narrative that Rodgers doesn’t have the same “trust” with WR1 Garrett Wilson, that’s a bit lazy. Wilson leads the NFL with 65 targets and is second with 41 receptions through six weeks—QBs tend to look elsewhere when they don’t trust them.
Like with Mike Williams, whom Rodgers threw under the bus during Monday’s postgame press conference. Apparently, Williams was supposed to run a vertical route on a 3rd-and-16 play with the Jets needing to score in the last two minutes. Instead, Rodgers said that Williams cut inside, thereby making Rodgers adjust his pass at the last second. When the result was an underthrown ball, Williams fell and Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson jumped over him to intercept it. Expect Williams, who was signed to a 1-year, $10 million deal (with three voidable years to spread out the cap hits) as a free agent in the offseason and has just 10 receptions for 145 yards through six games, to be sent elsewhere in short order, if possible.
The Adams trade, more than the Saleh dismissal, was Woody Johnson’s quick trigger move, one that he hoped would also appease his star QB who has been getting battered physically and emotionally all season. Adding Adams, an indifferent blocker, isn’t going to help the Jets run the ball or stop the run, which have been two of their biggest issues. From looking at NFLPenalties.com, Adams at least seems to have learned how to avoid those tiresome pre-snap fouls, committing just four over his last seven seasons. Maybe he can teach Lazard.
Not that Johnson knows any of this. He’s just mad that another version of his pet franchise stinks again. He is simply reacting. What does he or his dimwit brother Christopher know about building a sustainable winner? He said this out loud when he was cornered by the media at an NFL owners meeting. “Thinking is overrated,” he actually said.
This is ready, fire, aim.