Jamal Adams and the Jets: The Joe Douglas challenge flying under the radar

Jamal Adams and the New York Jets are hitting the headlines again, yet too many fans forget one critical front office aspect.

First and foremost, calm down. Ambulance sirens should not be running through your head. Your home’s smoke alarm should not be annoying the neighbors. You, personally, should not be losing your mind over the Adam Schefter information dished out Friday.

In case you missed it (it’s not like you were working, you non-essential worker, you), ESPN’s Schefter dropped a report suggesting the New York Jets have yet to “officially consider” a Jamal Adams extension.

When the NFL’s voluntary virtual off-season program opens this month, Jets’ All-Pro safety Jamal Adams is not expected to participate, per league sources. The Jets have not expressed any official interest in extending Adams thus far in the off-season, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 17, 2020

“When the NFL’s voluntary virtual offseason program opens this month, Jets’ All-Pro safety Jamal Adams is not expected to participate, per league sources. The Jets have not expressed any official interest in extending Adams thus far in the offseason, per source.”

Additionally, Schefter followed up with the already-known information that the Jets entertained offers for Adams last trade deadline.

The Jets entertained offers for All-Pro safety Jamal Adams at last year’s trade deadline; might be a name to monitor again during draft week. https://t.co/ScBUoLoiVr

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 17, 2020

“The Jets entertained offers for All-Pro safety Jamal Adams at last year’s trade deadline; might be a name to monitor again during draft week.”

Cue the noise.

Emotions are flying all over the place. For a team with so few wins and so few stars, the idea of No. 33 playing in Dallas is too much for some of the diehard pom-pom wavers to take—especially considering the fact Joe Douglas has already stated his goal is to make Adams a Jet for life.

“Jamal is an unbelievable player as we talked about at the end-of-the-season meeting,” Douglas said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “We’re excited about Jamal. The plan is for Jamal to be a Jet for life. We’ve had some preliminary talks with his agent. I’m not going to get into specifics of that. But again, the plan is for Jamal to be here a long time.”

Everything was moving swimmingly between Adams and Douglas until Schefter decided to drop this NFL bomb on a Friday (the equivalent of a Woj bomb via NBA). So, first and foremost, calm down. Until we hear from Adams or Douglas, the status quo remains the same; these two fellas have done a tremendous job publicly since the trade-deadline noise that hit Florham Park, NJ.

At the same time, when discussing a possible Adams trade, there’s one thing fans and media pundits continually forget.

Precedent is important.

Precedent Means Everything

Remember, this is Douglas’s first official big-boy draft as the boss. He’s looking to navigate the NFL in an obvious manner—with the understanding this is a value league, not a superstar league. If the NFL was the NBA, a Jamal Adams would flip the script for this franchise immediately. It’s just not that way.

Douglas cannot allow any player to bully him into a deal.