Joe Douglas made it clear at his first NFL trading deadline as a general manager that if a team called about one of his players, he’d always listen. Because of course a GM should listen and hear what others want and what they’re willing to offer.
This is why.
Douglas may not have wanted to trade disgruntled safety Jamal Adams, but his willingness to consider it landed him an offer he couldn’t refuse. He got two first-round picks (2021, 2022), a third-round pick (2021) and a starting safety (Bradley McDougald) in return for Adams and a fourth-rounder in 2022 when he pulled the trigger on the deal on Saturday afternoon. It’s a risky move to trade his best defensive player for sure, but he got a huge package that no one expected him to be able to get in return.
Not for a player that had scorched the Earth in the last few weeks, ripping the Jets’ owner, GM and coach and telling anyone who asked on social media how badly he wanted to play elsewhere. Not for a player who is basically demanding a new, lucrative contract that would make him the highest-paid safety in the NFL despite the sport’s uncertain economic future. Not for a player who had made himself toxic in recent days, leading to a growing sense around the NFL that the Jets would eventually have to trade him.
That’s usually when prices go down, not up.
But Douglas had all the leverage and played this perfectly from the start. He had the 24-year-old Adams under contract for the next two years and knew he could use the franchise tag after that. He didn’t have to give in to Adams’ demands for a new contract or to his demand for a trade. Douglas seemed to really believe that the 24-year-old Adams would eventually calm down and that they could talk about a long-term contract next offseason that would make him happy and a “Jet for life.”
He held his ground, refusing to just give Adams away just because he was making offseason noise. And in the meantime, he kept listening whenever anyone called, just in case the offers got really big.
That’s the part Adams couldn’t or wouldn’t understand when Douglas got caught listening to offers for Adams at the trade deadline last October. Douglas wasn’t shopping him, but when the Dallas Cowboys called with a serious offer, he picked up the phone and talked to them. Then, when they wouldn’t give up the two first-round picks Douglas wanted, he hung up and moved on.
But Adams couldn’t. There shouldn’t have been any harm in Douglas listening to the Cowboys, but Adams was still furious. Douglas made it clear it was part of his job to listen to offers for anyone other than his franchise quarterback. But Adams thought he belonged in the elite, untouchable class.
“The Rams don’t take calls on Aaron Donald,” he famously said. “The Patriots don’t take calls on Tom Brady. That’s where I hold myself, in that regard.”
That, of course, was ridiculous. But the reality that Adams will never get is that, for the right price, he was clearly expendable. Almost anyone on any team is. In fact, what the Jets got in return for him should prove to be far more valuable than what Adams would’ve brought to their team. Yes, he’s a hell of a player – probably one of the three best safeties in the NFL. But the Jets were 16-32 in his three seasons. It’s not his fault, of course, but if that was their record, how valuable could he really be?
Now the Jets have two extra first-round picks and a third-round pick to add talent to their franchise. And in the short term they don’t have to worry about his toxic unhappiness spreading throughout their locker room. In the long term, in an era of great economic uncertainty when the salary cap likely will drop over the next two seasons and could be stagnant after that, they also don’t have to worry about finding $15 million or so per year for a safety – not exactly the biggest impact position on the field.
Yes, they lose his talent, his emotion and his fan appeal – or whatever’s left of it – but just think of what two extra first-round picks and all that extra salary cap room could bring.
That’s why Douglas made this move. Adams could’ve helped the Jets, there’s no doubt about that. But all that Douglas got in return gives the Jets a chance to be even better. If the GM is able to turn those picks and that cap space into a handful of talent players, the Jets’ rebuilding project could be quicker than anyone expected.
And if that happens, everyone is going to be very happy that Douglas didn’t hang up the phone when teams like the Seahawks started to call.