New York Jets’ safety Jamal Adams spoke on Wednesday, expressing his displeasure with his name surfacing in trade rumors this week.
The NFL trade deadline has passed, but Jamal Adams is still thinking about his future.
Adams was late fuel to the deadline’s bonfire of rumors. Reports surfaced that the New York Jets (1-6) were taking offers on Adams and running back Le’Veon Bell, both of whom have become faces of the franchise as the team underwent a makeover. While Bell took to Twitter to express patience and that he was “happy as hell to be a New York Jet,” posts from Adams were a bit more troubling.
On Tuesday night, Adams made it clear that he never requested a trade out of New York and later claimed the Jets general manager Joe Douglas “went behind (his) back” and fielded offers about a move.
Those feelings didn’t dissipate during his weekly availability in Florham Park on Wednesday afternoon.
“I know (Douglas) has a job to do. And I respect it,” Adams said, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “But I hold myself in high regard. I’ve done everything they asked me to do in three years. I don’t take that lightly. Rams don’t take calls on Aaron Donald. Patriots don’t take calls on Tom Brady.”
Asked if he wanted to be with the Jets long term, Connor Hughes of The Athletic reported that Adams simply said, “I really don’t know.”
As Tuesday’s headline inched closer, rumors intensified that Adams was close to being dealt to the Dallas Cowboys. Once the Cowboys reports emerged, Adams told ESPN’s Ryan Clark that he would’ve “loved to go” to Dallas. Adams’ hometown of Lewisville, TX is a half-hour drive from Dallas and he partook in a high school state championship game at the Cowboys’ current home of AT&T Stadium. The safety also referred to former Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin as “like an uncle” on Wednesday.
Speaking on Tuesday, Douglas acknowledged that conversations about Adams and Bell were had, but trade discussions didn’t advance beyond “good conversations”.
Douglas said he planned to speak to Adams after the deadline. Adams, however, said he’s “not ready to talk about it”.
“Sometimes it’s best to just kind of let it cool down,” Adams said in a video obtained by SNY. “When you’re ready to talk and have a conversation, we definitely can. I believe we definitely will.”
Jamal Adams says he's not yet ready to talk to Joe Douglas about the trade deadline pic.twitter.com/mL2ZXwu0TW
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) October 30, 2019
Adams and the Jets return to action on Sunday afternoon, as they take on the Miami Dolphins on the road (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
