Here we go again. Jamal Adams-to-the-Cowboys rumors are going to be a thing for at least a while longer. And one of the franchise’s Ring of Honor icons is fanning the flames.
Back in the fall, the Dallas front office reportedly failed to swing a trade deal with the New York Jets for the services of the two-time Pro Bowl safety. The awkward courtship continued into the offseason, with the 2017 first-round draft pick making it no secret he would entertain a return to his hometown Metroplex to play for the Cowboys if the Jets were unwilling to meet his contract demands. Whispers of Adams being dangled as trade bait swirled throughout the league, right up through the 2020 NFL Draft, until the Jets made it known that they intended to pick up Adams’s fifth-year option.
But the long and drawn-out dance continues, as reported on Twitter by New York’s Daily News NFL columnist Gary Myers.
Adams is going into 4th season and Jets exercised 5th year option for 2021. Unlikely any team makes trade without long-term contract. Adams is from Dallas and Cowboys showed interest last year. He makes $3.5M in 2020. Best teams sign their best players. They don't trade them.
— Gary Myers (@GaryMyersNY) May 21, 2020
ESPN is confirming that contract talks between the Jets and Adams “have reached an impasse.”
According to the network’s Rich Cimini:
“Adams, eligible for a new contract now that he has completed his third season, said in January that he wants an extension by the start of the 2020 season. He is due to make $3.5 million this year. His salary jumps to $9.9 million in 2021, the amount of his fifth-year option.”
As Cimini points out, the Jets have Adams under team control for at least two years, with the option of using the franchise tag on him in 2022.
But if Adams is vocal enough about his unhappiness with the treatment from the organization, one of the more lucrative trade offers soon to be flooding the Jets’ phone lines may indeed persuade the club to sell.
The Cowboys, of course, could still be one of those teams asking about Adams’s price tag. Safety has been a weak spot on the Dallas roster for years, and despite the offseason signing of veteran HaHa Clinton-Dix, it remains an area of some concern for the team as it transitions to a new defense under coordinator Mike Nolan.
Some close to the team are reportedly already clamoring for Jerry and Stephen Jones to start sending out feelers to Gang Green regarding the cover man, who will turn 25 in October.
Michael Irvin just texted me on the Jamal Adams rumor: "He is great in coverage. Jets want a 1st and a 3rd. He is great for that locker room that needed Michael Bennett to speak up after having just a donut here…" @1053SS @1053thefan pic.twitter.com/y0aYA9hsr5
— RJ Choppy (@rjchoppy) May 22, 2020
For now, the Adams soap opera in New York continues, as Adams presses for a new deal, and the Jets apparently remain hesitant to make a long-term commitment.
But the patriarchs in Dallas know a thing or two about soap operas, too. And luring an A-list superstar away to join their all-star cast is a plot twist that’s always within the realm of possibility.
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