The insanity behind the Jamal Adams-New York Jets saga is apparent and completely inexplicable for one real-life reason.
The insanity and immaturity are both present. It’s apparent. It just doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, it shouldn’t be happening during this specific time in the world.
The idea that Jamal Adams is creating all of this noise during a time in which he and New York Jets representation are restricted from meeting face to face is an overlooked and extremely troubling issue. Any strategy that doesn’t feature a legitimate conversation in person feels like an all-show hand to play.
Hard-working New Yorkers and New Jerseyans are struggling at the moment. Jobless and even hungry in many cases, every dollar represents significant value. As New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy slowly announces the reopening of the state, breakouts across the country plague other efforts.
On Saturday, Rob Manfred and baseball shut down all 30 training camps after a recent coronavirus surge that saw outbreaks in various hotspots. Despite everybody’s best-laid plans, including the NFL’s, uncertainty looms large.
The Jets’ best player spits in the eye of uncertainty. Why Adams decided this past week was the right move to blow up the NFL world is something nobody yet knows.
Is it truly about the money?
All told, Adams is scheduled to make over $30 million over his five-year rookie deal in New York. Again, public displays of defiance over money during a time when hard-working New Yorkers are jobless and struggling could be an act never forgiven.
Maybe Adams knows this. Maybe not. Maybe it’s a strategy to help drill that final nail in the coffin.
Adams has always been a young man looking to visit big places and do great things. Think LeBron James during the Summer of 2010. The young kid with the weight of the basketball world on his shoulders announced that he would be “taking his talents to South Beach.”
What the world witnessed that night was a scared kid worried he’d be championship-less in a league that defines all-time greats on rings. While the NFL is the furthest thing from the NBA, Adams owns that superstar mindset. He must win and he must win now.
Due to Adams’s public display of frustration without much evidence that the Jets have wronged him in a severe fashion (save for the first offer to come in January that never came comment), fans have turned on him in droves, believing it has everything to do with winning and not money. Most Jets fanatics believe his mission statement includes finding a franchise that would dare view him on the level of a Tom Brady or Aaron Donald and immediately hang up the phone when another team comes calling. Oh yeah, and as long as that team is an already-made winner: the Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, 1985 Chicago Bears, 1927 New York Yankees, 1996 Chicago Bulls, etc. Any of those teams will do just fine.
Hell, reports are already surfacing that he’s willing to play for another team and not re-up until after the 2020 season—something’s he’s unwilling to do with the Jets. The kid’s recent unabashed actions are almost too much to take, and so much so that it’s hard to believe he thinks this strategy is in his best interest.
Odds are, while money can be used as a factor, there’s so much more at play.
Sorry, the content stops here if you’re not a Jet X Member, not currently logged-in, or viewing from an outside source such as Google AMP or an RSS Feed where logged-in status is not possible.
Get Started with the button below to access this Jets X-Factor article and the best damn New York Jets content in the world for free (after becoming a member, search for this article near the bottom of the Membership Confirmation page):
Log In with the button below if you’re already a member:
Connect with the button below if you’d like to create a free account first:
Audio Version available to members only: Learn more here
I think he just never wanted to be a jet. His father was a nygiant and im sure the jets name is a laughing stock in his household and growing up. And he’s got a look inside whats been a real mess since he showed up. Im working this out while i type, forgive me. Now that he got his pro bowl rep and fame, like you said, he just wants to force his way out to a contender. I think very little of him from this recent stuff and think he has no integrity and is not a leader. No teammates are speaking up for him. And he’s a very weak fragile man with no character if this has anything to do with JD listening to offers on him last year. What i will afford him is some understanding that he’s a young man, we’ve all made mistakes, and it must be tough to lose so much. If the jets were at fault, a stand up dude would have addressed the reason already, but it seems he’s just looking for an excuse. Im not a gase fan but he seems like the only scapegoat adams can use here and really thats shitty and pathetic. I mean, hey, if it gets gase outta here and a decent hc in here, maybe things work out. Sighs… i dunno man.. ive really lost 100% respect for this kid now and dont want to root for him or watch him play. Hopefully JD can get a good return for him. I know he helps our D tremendously but certain things i just.. i just cant support jamal anymore. Unless we find out some gross way the jets have hurt him which i dont see now.