When the New York Jets transferred a conditional third-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this month for star wide receiver Davante Adams, they made a commitment to fully commit to the 2024 season.
The Jets were in the middle of a losing streak and had just dismissed their head coach, so the timing of the Adams deal was a little strange. Adams was expected to be sufficient to enable the Jets make a strong postseason run in addition to improving their fortunes.
Rather, the Jets have yet to win a game since signing Adams, and in his two games with the team, the six-time Pro Bowler has, at most, had a minor influence.
Adams’ tenure with the Jets appears to be limited to this season, as the team is set to miss the playoffs for the fourteenth consecutive year. Already, that transaction appears to be a huge disaster for the team.
For the NY Jets, the Davante Adams deal has been an absolute catastrophe.
Since obtaining Aaron Rodgers during the 2023 summer, the Jets have attempted to get Adams on many occasions. Before the Jets’ Week 7 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a deal was finally reached after more than a year of whispers and flirtation.
For the Jets, who were in dire need of momentum after a three-game losing run, that Steelers game was a must-win. The Jets lost by three scores in primetime, and Adams would end the game with just three catches for thirty yards.
Adams caught four passes for 54 yards in his second game, but he didn’t have much of an effect either. Since the Jets acquired him, he has only caught seven passes for 84 yards.
He has the third-worst Pro Football Focus grade (53.4) out of 57 wide receivers who had at least eight targets in the past two weeks. This includes a 12.5% drop rate and a team-worst 37.9 run-block grade.
Adams was open a lot during the Patriots game, which just serves to highlight his lack of output. Rodgers hardly ever glanced in his direction, but the Jets were able to plan their best receiver open many times.
As one of the greatest quarterback/wide receiver combinations in NFL history, Rodgers and Adams earned a living in Green Bay. Throughout his remarkable career, Rodgers has targeted Adams more than 200 times more than any other receiver.
However, since joining the Jets, Adams has somehow become less important. His quarterback, who has reportedly decided to target other receivers instead, bears some of the blame for that as well as his own actions.
Whatever the reason, Adams hasn’t had the effect the Jets had hoped for. Adams’ chances of playing for the Jets in 2025 are dwindling because his contract has no guaranteed money left beyond 2024. This is particularly true in the event that Rodgers and the Jets split up.
In 2024, with Joe Douglas and colleagues attempting to preserve their jobs, the Jets risked on their dreams of making it to the postseason. The Jets basically set fire to a third-round pick as a result of that gamble’s disastrous failure.
The Jets won’t make it to the postseason again in 2024 unless they make a dramatic and abrupt turnaround, and the Adams deal will go down as another roster decision that went wrong in an attempt to go all in.
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