New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas flat-out denies promising Jamal Adams or his agent a contract extension this offseason.
The New York Jets general manager just attempted to stomp out any confusion regarding one of the key sticking points in the Jamal Adams situation.
On a conference call with media, Monday afternoon, Joe Douglas flat-out denied promising the new Seattle Seahawks safety or his agent any contract extension this past offseason.
“I never promised an offer to Jamal (Adams) or his agent. I was never dishonest or ambiguous with their camp.”
Joe Douglas on Jamal Adams' claims of an extension promise:
"I never promised an offer to Jamal (Adams) or his agent. I was never dishonest or ambiguous." #Jets
— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) July 27, 2020
The claims fly in the face of Adams’ belief that the Jets organization lied to him.
Adams, 24, first created this topic when he responded to a fan on Instagram. The situation boiled over after an exclusive spot with Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News in which Adams’ claims that the Jets weren’t straight with him created a major problem.
“If they would have just simply said, ‘You know what, Jamal — we’re not going to look to pay you this year, we want to keep adding players — I would have respected that more,” Adams said. “I would say, ‘You know what? I respect it. As a man, I get it. I understand it’s a business.’ But for them to tell me that they’re going to pay me and then not send over a proposal after they said that’s what they were going to, that’s where we go wrong. And then for you to ignore me, that’s why I have a problem.”
Interestingly, the Douglas conference call comes on the same day Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Adams reached out to several Dallas Cowboys players during the trade deadline in late October. According to the NFL insider, Adams lobbied for a trade to Dallas, which is a hop, skip and jump away from his hometown of Lewisville, TX.
Through all the noise, the Jets, especially Joe Douglas, remained silent—until Monday, two days after the blockbuster trade and one day prior to the official start of training camp.
“I feel like our communication was very clear from the very beginning,” Douglas stated.
From admitting he always picks up the phone when a team calls about any one of his players to doubling-down on his communication with the Adams camp, the young front office boss didn’t waver on Monday.
He even admitted that trading Adams was not the plan when he initially arrived in Florham Park, NJ.
“It certainly wasn’t the plan when I first arrived here,” Douglas said.
"It certainly wasn't the plan when I first arrived here," Joe Douglas on trading Jamal Adams. #Jets
— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) July 27, 2020
As far as the new guy is concerned, Bradley McDougald is scheduled to arrive in town Monday night, at which point he will take a COVID-19 test. If all goes well, it’s off to a physical on Tuesday.
“Obviously, the trade is still pending physical. Bradley should be arriving tonight, and we should be giving him a COVID test, and if that goes well, we’ll be giving him his physical tomorrow.”
Joe Douglas on the trade, Bradley McDougald's arrival:
"Obviously, the trade is still pending physical. Bradley should be arriving tonight, and we should be giving him a COVID test, and if that goes well, we'll be giving him his physical tomorrow." #Jets
— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) July 27, 2020
Jamal Adams is a Seahawk, Adam Gase is still the Jet head coach, and Joe Douglas continues to confidently speak about tough issues that have popped up in his rookie year as NFL general manager.
At the very least, no matter where you may come down on the issue, the New York Jets young general manager never loses his cool or says the wrong thing publicly. Perhaps G.M. Joe should be rebranded into Cool Joe.
