Jamal Adams would prefer to get paid by the Jets. At least that’s what a teammate who was once in a similar situation believes.
Le’Veon Bell, speaking to Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97 radio on Friday, said that he and Adams had a “great talk” on Thursday. Bell came away with the impression that Adams wants to remain in New York if he can get the contract he desires — a stance all too familiar to the running back.
“I think he wants to be [with the Jets], I just think he wants to get paid,” Bell told Rosenberg. “I think he’s in the same situation I was three years ago. He’s a young player. He’s been at the top of the game, playing at a high level and feels like, ‘Dang, I just want to get compensated.'”
Like Adams, Bell was once seeking a lofty extension from the team that drafted him. Bell sat out the entire 2018 season after contract negotiations with the Steelers broke down, thus ultimately leading to his arrival in New York via free agency.
Bell wasn’t getting what he thought he was worth from the Steelers, so he stuck to his guns and took a year off. After doing that, it would be hard for Bell to critique Adams’ demands, which include becoming the highest-paid safety in the NFL and, more recently, requesting a trade to a list of eight contenders.
“You deserve every dollar you’re asking for,” Bell said of Adams. “Everything he asks for, he deserves it.”
The Jets have more or less agreed with that publically, with general manager Joe Douglas saying he intends to make Adams a “Jet for life.” The issue, however, has been the timing. Adams wants to be paid this offseason after just three years in the NFL. The Jets control his rights for at least another two more years and as many as four. There’s not much incentive for the Jets to extend Adams this offseason, other than attempting to repair what has become a fractured relationship.
Bell, for one, isn’t banking on a trade. The back’s contract demands in Pittsburgh resulted in him joining another team, but he hopes that’s not the case with Adams.
“Me, personally, I hope he doesn’t get traded,” Bell said. “But I don’t think he’ll get traded. I do think he’ll be playing with the Jets. That’s just me, personally, because I don’t think he’s going to get traded. Honestly, why would you trade him? I wouldn’t trade him.”