This is the point where, if this were any feel-good movie, the Jets would make a grand gesture and reunite the pair that never should’ve broken up.
Except the Jets are giving off more of a soap opera vibe, and it is no guarantee that dealing for trade-seeking Raiders receiver Davante Adams to pair with Aaron Rodgers will make things better. Or as good as they were when those two formed a lethal connection with the Packers.
Adams has the Jets and Saints — where his former college and NFL teammate Derek Carr is slinging the ball — atop his wish list, and the Jets, Cowboys, Bills and Steelers have checked in with the Raiders, according to various reports.
Teams in the trade market are convinced that Adams is trying to engineer his way to the Jets, per Sports Illustrated.
“You’re always going to look at ways to help the roster get better, whether it’s utilizing the guys who are here and moving them to different spots on the field,” Jets head coach Robert Saleh said before Wednesday’s practice. “We’re always going to figure out the best way to use our players.”
Saleh was careful not to break the NFL’s tampering rules, but here are the pros and cons of the Jets meeting the reported Raiders asking price of a second-round draft pick plus more to acquire Adams:
Pros
1. He’s still really good, right?: Adams, 31, averaged 102 catches for 1,330 yards and 11 touchdowns per 17 games in his first two seasons in Las Vegas. He is not solely a Rodgers creation and could teach a trick or two to rising star Garrett Wilson.
“He’s one of my favorite teammates and one of my biggest mentors,” said Jets receiver Allen Lazard, who played with Adams for four years. “I’m so grateful for the time we spent together in Green Bay doing the things we did.”
Adams’ numbers are down this year, but that could be attributable to subpar quarterbacking by Gardner Minshew and a hamstring injury.
ESPN analytics raise concerns that Adams has been getting less open on his routes for five straight years and his yards after catch productivity is down in three straight years.
2. Chemistry with Rodgers: How is it possible that Wilson is on pace to produce less with Rodgers than over his first two seasons with a parade of other mediocre (or worse) quarterbacks?
Rodgers is known for holding receivers to very high standards on everything from learning hand signals to route adjustments.
Adams has made 622 catches for 7,590 yards and 69 touchdowns on passes from Rodgers.
“They were together for eight years,” Lazard said. “It’s built over time. It didn’t just happen overnight. It took a lot of mistakes, it took a lot of incompletions, it took a lot of bad plays to get where they were.”
3. All-in already: The Jets have been all-in on Rodgers and chasing a Super Bowl since January 2023, before he was acquired.
They hired offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and signed Lazard, receiver Randall Cobb, backup quarterback Tim Boyle and offensive tackle Billy Turner — all friends of Rodgers — for the 2023 season.
Why draw the line now on Rodgers’ get-the-band-back-together wishes with the most talented of all those players?
The Jets also treated 2024 like championship-or-bust by trading for rental Haason Reddick, which has proved to be a disaster as he continues a costly holdout.
Left tackle Tyron Smith, right tackle Morgan Moses and receiver Mike Williams were added as high-end one-year stopgaps.
Cons
1. Locker-room messaging: There are only so many passes to go around.
Wilson is a proven No. 1 receiver.
Williams ranks No. 2 among active players with 15.5 career yards per catch and appears to be coming on strong after missing the offseason while rehabbing a torn ACL.
Lazard leads the team with 206 receiving yards and three touchdowns, putting last season’s struggles behind him because of his own time-tested rapport with Rodgers.
Bumping all those players down a spot to play to Rodgers’ favorites sends a risky side-kick message to Wilson — who already sounds unhappy with his new route-running restrictions in the offense — and means having a $10 million (Williams) or $11 million (Lazard) per year receiver as the No. 5 option, after accounting for slot receiver Xavier Gipson.
“We’re going to focus on the guys that are here,” Saleh said.
2. Bigger needs: Because of the unresolved Reddick holdout and the mistaken salary dump of John Franklin-Myers, the Jets are shorthanded on a defensive line that functions best with a deep rotation.
Breakout second-year player Will McDonald has five of their 14 sacks.
On the O-line, Smith is injury-prone, Moses is sidelined and rookie first-round pick Olu Fashanu struggled in his first career start replacing Moses.
If the Jets are going to trade draft capital to load up, there are positions in need of greater attention.
The Jets’ salary-cap allotment to receiver ($23.4 million) already is 14th-highest in the league this year, per spotrac.com.
3. Finances: Acquiring Adams today would eat up about $13.5 million of the Jets’ $15.3 million in salary-cap space, increasing the odds that other restructures would be necessary to get through the season. Adams’ salary decreases by $983,333 per week.
Adams’ contract runs through 2026 but has no guaranteed money beyond this season. He could be looking for a restructure.
The Jets, who have several crucial extension negotiations looming on the horizon, haven’t been willing to rework Reddick’s contract until he shows up and proves himself. Why would that stance change for Adams?