The drama never seems to escape Jamal Adams.
The New York Jets’ star safety, who has become one of the faces of the franchise in his three seasons with the organization, once again is making waves for the wrong reasons.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Friday that the 24-year-old is unhappy with his current contract and will skip the Jets’ virtual, voluntary programs beginning on April 27.
Adams is scheduled to make over $3.5 million in 2020, the fourth year of a possible five-season deal that will pay him an average of $5.5 million (he has a $9.9 million fifth-year club option on his contract in 2021) — which classifies him as woefully underpaid when comparing him to other NFL safeties.
In fact, his contract is just the 26th-highest amongst players at his position entering 2020, per Spotrac.
That’s quite a team-friendly deal for the Jets considering Adams is already a two-time Pro Bowler and one of the top young safeties in the league. But in the grand scheme of things, given the adverse effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on the economy and employment in the United States, continuous voicing of dissatisfaction over millions of dollars doesn’t strike the right chords now more than ever.
Just look at what the Jets are doing in allowing fans to defer payments for season tickets. The New York/New Jersey area has been the hardest hit by COVID-19.
Adams made it known in January that he wants a contract extension this season and Jets general manager Joe Douglas has said that he wants to make the LSU product a Gang Green lifer.
But the lack of initiative to instigate contractual conversations has made it apparent that the Jets might choose to wait until 2021 to talk a new deal with Adams. At least, that’s what history suggests.
Just 15 of 191 first-round picks from 2011 through 2016 received extensions after their third season under the NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini. Of those 15 players, only four played defense.
This adds just another dimension to a relationship that has continued to experience speed bumps over the last year.
Around the NFL’s November trade deadline, the Jets entertained offers on a deal involving Adams — a turn of events that prompted Adams to take to social media and throw the equivalent of a virtual tantrum.
While Douglas and the Jets have broadcasted their desire to keep Adams, last season’s trade deadline suggests that they would listen to offers again this year if frustrations grow even more and the star demands a trade.
It would take some more time for things to reach that point, but Adams already broadcasting that he won’t attend virtual programming — as innocuous as it is — hints that things are amiss.
