Fully affirming they are turning the page to a new chapter, the New York Jets have complemented their decision to move on from Aaron Rodgers by parting ways with his favorite wide receiver, Davante Adams.
Per a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport on Tuesday, the Jets are expected to release Adams.
While Rapoport acknowledges that Adams could still end up playing with Rodgers in 2025, he reports that “the pull of being on the West Coast is very real” for the Redwood City, Calif. native, who played his college ball at Fresno State.
Adams had a $38.34 million cap number for the 2025 season. By releasing him, the Jets will save $29.98 million while carrying an $8.36 million cap hit. If they choose, the Jets can release Adams with a post-June 1 designation to spread the hit between $2.09 million in 2025 and $6.27 million in 2026. New York will almost assuredly take the post-June 1 route with Rodgers as well; teams are allowed to make two post-June 1 cuts per season.
The Adams trade was ultimately a failure for New York. Sitting at 2-4 after entering 2024 with championship aspirations, the Jets made a desperate mid-year trade for Adams in hopes of saving their season. New York sent a 2025 third-round selection to the Las Vegas Raiders for the then-31-year-old wideout. While Adams put up good numbers across 11 games (67 receptions on 114 targets for 854 yards and seven touchdowns), the Jets went 3-8 with him in the lineup. Now, they will lose a third-round pick and $8.36 million in 2025, all just for three victories in a lost season.
While the Adams trade was bad enough in itself, former Jets general manager Joe Douglas put himself in a position where he was essentially forced to make the deal due to years of poor roster construction. With his job on the line and all of his non-Garrett Wilson additions at wide receiver having failed, Douglas seemingly felt as if he had to make the panic move (which may or may not have been nudged on him by ownership).
New Jets general manager Darren Mougey will try to build a sustainable enough ecosystem to the point where he is never forced to make desperate mid-season trades that cripple the future just to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic.
