A recent trend between the Jets and their star players has us worried.
For the past few years, the New York Jets have been searching for a legitimate star player. The thought was they’d found one in Jamal Adams but we all saw how that turned out. Now with another budding star, Marcus Maye, a tweet from his agent caused a little buzz throughout the social spheres.
While it’s not immediately alarming, it does raise slight concern as to a potentially troubling trend surrounding this Jets team.
Earlier this week Marcus Maye’s agent, Erik Burkhardt of Select Sports Group, shared some views on his client in response to Field Yates’ tweet about the Jets’ salary cap situation heading into 2021.
As seen in the tweet below Maye’s agent expressed that the Jets “refuse to take care of their best player, Captain, and team-voted MVP in his prime who had several All-Pro votes.”
In the tweet, Burkhardt mentioned “Last year’s All-Pro safety” which of course is talking about Jamal Adams who was traded to Seattle after disputes with New York’s front office over a contract extension.
…Yet refuse to take care of their best player, Captain, & team-voted MVP in his prime who had several All-Pro votes…and who played out his entire rookie deal and even changed positions on his contract year (after they got rid of last yrs All-Pro safety). ✌?
— Erik Burkhardt (@ErikBurkhardt) March 3, 2021
Now the Jamal Adams situation was an ugly one, with blame on both sides of the coin. As we all remember it turned into a heated “he said, she said” fiasco with reports of false promises and shattered player-coach relationships. While the Jamal situation was one that left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths it was also a look into a culture shift happening within the NFL.
Football has always been regarded as one of if not the biggest team sports. With a roster of 53 players and three different facets of the game, it’s rare to see a single star impact winning in the same way you see in basketball or hockey.
However, lately we’ve seen a changing of the guard that some teams may need to get hip to – and soon. That’s not to say the NFL is headed to a stars league like the NBA, however, star players have been having an increasingly larger voice. And if they’re unhappy they’ll let you know.
You look around the league over the past few years and star players are becoming bolder in expressing their concerns with a team whether contractually, about personnel, or demanding a trade. This offseason in particular we’ve seen Deshaun Watson demand a trade out of Houston and Russell Wilson voice concerns about the Seahawks organization. Even a year ago All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson reportedly wanted out of Arizona.
Now, this isn’t to say the Jets should just fold to top talent but there needs to be a healthy give and take. How an organization treats players is something guys around the league discuss when they’re at the Pro Bowl, training, or even on vacation together.
Through fault on both sides, the Jamal Adams contract situation ended terribly which ultimately led to an All-Pro talent leaving New York. What the Jets and Joe Douglas cannot let happen is make this a trend of not valuing their more talented players. It’s true no one player is bigger than the organization, but taking care of your top guys is important too.
Marcus Maye had the best year of his young career and looks to be one of the foundational pieces on a rebuilding squad. Maye’s agent calling out the organization on Twitter may have been a power move but it’s not a good look for New York.
The Jets cannot let this situation balloon to anywhere near the Adams situation and have it turn into a public shouting match.
As Burkhardt mentioned, Marcus had a career year even after switching positions. If New York can’t take care of Maye and he either walks or demands a trade that would make two high-caliber players this front office has pushed out the door. And if that’s the case who’s to say the same won’t happen with Quinnen Williams or Mekhi Becton in a few years?