The time between the NFL Draft and the start of training camp is the slow period in the NFL. The news really starts to dry up.
From September through February, there are games to break down. February to March is all about getting ready for and analyzing free agency. Then from March to late April we do the same for the NFL Draft.
Once the Draft ends, there isn’t much left to talk about. So whenever a small snippet of news becomes available, it gets a ridiculous amount of attention relative to its actual performance. See the analysis of rookie minicamp or the NFL schedule release over the last couple of days. We will do it again with overanalysis of the offseason program practices in the weeks ahead.
It gets to the point where news gets created where none actually exists. Take a recent podcast interview by former Jets safety Jamal Adams. Adams left the team in a 2020 trade under acrimonious terms.
During this interview, Adams expressed interest in returning to the team and regret for how his time in New York ended as transcribed by Rich Cimini.
“[I would] just come in as a seasoned vet, give game to the young cats and help in any way, shape or form I can,” he said. “I know I can still play football. I’m healthy and I know I can impact the game in a lot of ways. I just need that fair opportunity to come in and show what I can do.”
“My biggest regret is me and Joe Douglas never speaking,” he said. “We never spoke on the phone one time. We never spoke in person one time before this trade happened. And that’s where I wish we could have that back, because I can’t speak for him but I didn’t go about it the right way at that time.”
What can we say about this. It’s an interesting interview. The podcast is worth a listen. Good job by the host getting this out of Adams.
Somehow this interview has morphed into, “There’s a good chance Jamal Adams is returning to the Jets.”
Look, it’s nice to hear that Jamal Adams regrets how he handled things. I think most would agree he acted like a jerk at the end of his Jets tenure. The Jets ended up benefitting greatly from trading him to Seattle. The picks they got in the deal were eventually used to select Garrett Wilson and Alijah Vera-Tucker while Adams’ career has fallen off a cliff in part due to injuries.
Does Jamal Adams saying he’s interested in coming back to the Jets remotely mean the Jets are going to be interested in bringing him back? Of course not.
I’m sure Adams would like to play for the Jets. At this point, he’d like to be on any of the 32 teams. He’s unsigned and wasn’t even on a roster at the end of last season. The Titans cut him in October after playing only three games. He ended up on the Lions practice squad where he was twice elevated to the active roster and then cut.
It makes all the sense in the world for Adams to pitch himself to any team that might have a remote degree of interest. What interest could a retooling Jets team have in a broken down 29 year old safety, though?
The fact he was on the Detroit practice squad with Aaron Glenn last year is the only reason I could see there being even a remote chance of this happening. Still he never made it off the practice squad and was cut before the Playoffs. He certainly hasn’t been a priority player for Glenn.
There is a point to remember both here and in similar situations in the future. Just because a player says he wants to play for the Jets doesn’t mean the Jets will be interested in that player.