Jets send star safety Jamal Adams to Seahawks in blockbuster trade
Adams, 24, quickly has established himself as an elite defender in his three NFL seasons, being selected to two Pro Bowls and an all-pro team. But his relationship with the Jets deteriorated. He reportedly sought to become the league’s highest-paid safety with a contract extension worth more than the $14.6 million per year earned by the Chicago Bears’ Eddie Jackson. When that didn’t materialize, Adams requested a trade.
Adams has two seasons remaining on his original rookie contract and is to make $3.59 million this season and $9.86 million in the 2021 season.
In recent days, Adams had been publicly critical of Jets Coach Adam Gase and owner Woody Johnson.
Adams also wrote: “Right is right. Wrong is wrong! If [you] don’t think this is wrong you’re part of the problem not the solution.”
Johnson wrote that day on Twitter that the “false claims of insensitive remarks about race and gender are totally inconsistent with my longstanding record and values.”
About Gase, Adams told the New York Daily News in comments published Friday: “I don’t feel like he’s the right leader for this organization to reach the Promised Land. As a leader, what really bothers me is that he doesn’t have a relationship with everybody in the building.”
The Daily News reported then that Jets General Manager Joe Douglas had informed Adams that the team was open to trading him before the season.
“It’s definitely mixed feelings,” Adams told the Daily News. “But at the end of the day, my happiness is more important. I know my worth. I’m going to stand on my beliefs. I’m going to stand on who I am as a person. And I’m not ever going to change who I am for somebody who’s judging me. Either you accept me for who I am and you work with me and support me or you don’t. It’s okay if you don’t.”
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