The Haul The Jets Got For Jamal Adams Should Be Celebrated

Jamal Adams as a Jet is no more. As a Jets fan, I am happy that the Jamal Adams drama scene is over. Is it an indictment on the franchise that they drafted the top safety and he wanted out within 3 years? Yeah, sure, but he was asking for a bananas contract considering his position and the current uncertainty with the cap due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Adams wanted out, everyone knew it. He was possibly the most disgruntled employee in the league. Who knows how this would've turned out. 

Joe Douglas (friend of the program and Dave Portnoy) turned this situation into gold:

2 1st-round draft picks and a 3rd rounder is massive from a cap perspective. Yes, they have to hit on those draft picks, but if you're building a team around a QB (Sam Darnold) that you will most likely have to pay massive money to in the future, how you work the cap/utilize rookie contracts is massive. 

A lot of people will point out that the best-case scenario is that these players turn into Jamal Adams. I get why you're saying that, but I think you are overrating the true value of Jamal Adams. In terms of average pay by position, the only positions that get paid less on an NFL team than the strong safety are:

-Running Back

-Cornerback (more of them, so this makes sense that the average is lower)

-Tight End

-Fullback

Strong safeties just are not that valuable according to the market in the NFL. The highest-paid strong safety right now is at just 14.2 million per year. The only positions that have a lower top salary are Tight End, Center, and Fullback. You can get mad at me or you can get mad at the market. 

The Jets also received a safety in return who isn't that bad. Bradley McDougald has had over 70 tackles every year since 2015. He also has 9 interceptions and 4 forced fumbles since then. 

This was a good trade by the Jets. A great trade I'd say.