The Jamal Adams saga came to an end on Saturday afternoon, as the Jets relieved themselves of a disgruntled player by shipping the safety to the Seahawks. Ironically, New York did the exact same thing with another headaches three years ago.
In four years with the Jets, Sheldon Richardson established himself as a force at defensive end. He earned NFL defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2013 and secured a trip to the Pro Bowl a year later, establishing himself as one of football’s up and coming defensive linemen.
Richardson also established himself as a nuisance in the locker room and off the field. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy related to marijuana. He also began the 2016 season suspended for violating the league’s personal conduct policy after being charged with resisting arrest and traffic violations less than two weeks after he received his four-game suspension in 2015.
The traffic violations Richardson committed were not exactly minor, either. Richardson was street racing at an excess of 140 miles per hour before attempting to evade police. A 12-year-old was also in the vehicle, which smelled like marijuana, at the time of the pursuit.
Once Richardson returned to the field in 2016, he caused more problems by frequently trading verbal blows with wide receiver Brandon Marshall in the locker room. Well aware of Richardson’s negative impact on the locker room and his behavior off the field, the Jets attempted to rid themselves of the talented defensive end throughout the 2017 season, but failed to agree to terms on a deal in negotiations with the Broncos, Cowboys and Seahawks.
New York and Seattle eventually came to an agreement, as Richardson was swapped for a 2018 second-round pick and wide receiver Jermaine Kearse. Richardson spent only one season with the Seahawks before signing with the Vikings in free agency, while the Jets used their new second-round pick as part of the package to trade up for Sam Darnold.
Getting rid of Richardson afforded New York the opportunity to land its quarterback of the future. With Adams following Richardson’s path to Seattle, the Jets once again have an opportunity to reshape their team while also ridding themselves of a migraine.
Joe Douglas now has the chance to land talent at premium positions in consecutive drafts. It’s going to be tough to replace an All-Pro safety, but the draft capital New York received in exchange for Adams could be enough to get the organization back on the right path. Plus, the Jets no longer gave to deal with his social media rants and trade requests. As good as Adams is, he was never going to singularly solve the Jets’ problems. Giving him a lucrative contract extension certainly wasn’t going to help matters, either. New York needs to retool at multiple positions.
Landing two additional first-round picks give the Jets a chance to do just that.