Jamal Adams, New York Jets. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
If Jamal Adams were traded to the Baltimore Ravens, here’s what to expect.
Jamal Adams wants to be traded, and preferably to one of these seven teams.
After three years with the New York Jets, the two-time Pro Bowl safety wants out of the Big Apple. Adams may have had great personal success with Gang Green, but three years of perpetual dysfunction would inevitably drive the sanest of men crazy. One of the teams he reportedly wants to go to is the Baltimore Ravens. Could the Ravens put together an enticing enough of an offer?
There are pros and cons in trading with the Ravens. Baltimore is one of the most well-run teams in the NFL. That means they have a ton of great players, but also aren’t going to get worked over by a team that’s not as well-run as them, like the Jets. Baltimore is loaded on defense, but may not have a ton of tradable assets on offense. Plus, they play in the same AFC as the Jets.
Entering 2020, Baltimore is favored to get to the AFC Championship game to face the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. New York is one of several teams in line to contend for one of three wild card spots now available in the AFC. Could these two AFC teams find a deal that could work to get Adams in the Ravens’ secondary and Gang Green back into the playoffs?
Here’s what a Jamal Adams trade to the Baltimore Ravens could look like.
The good news is the Ravens and Jets could do a defensive back-for-defensive back deal straight-up no problem. Baltimore has so much talent in its secondary that it’s borderline unfair. There are three players that could go the Jets’ way in a deal for Adams: Marlon Humphrey, Jimmy Smith and Earl Thomas. Would any of them with a pick attached to him move the needle for the Jets?
With Smith, it would have to be a first-round pick as well. Though he’s spent his entire nine-year NFL career with the team who drafted him No. 27 overall out of Colorado, Smith has never been a Pro Bowler for the Ravens. Adams has been a Pro Bowler twice in three years and was a First-Team All-Pro player last year. If Smith goes to the Jets, he’s coming with at least a first-round pick.
Thomas is a bit more complicated, just like his relationship with his brother. He’s a future Pro Football Hall of Fame player, but are his best years behind him? Trading Adams for Thomas straight up would be an incredible Jets-y move for the Jets to make. Too bad general manager Joe Douglas knows what he’s doing and isn’t living at Dunkin’ Donuts like Mike Maccagnan.
While a Smith deal is possible and a Thomas deal would be uncomfortable, the easiest deal for the Ravens to make would be to send Humphrey New York’s way with maybe a pick attached. It doesn’t have to be a first-rounder, maybe something of the day two or day three variety. Humphrey was a first-round pick in the same draft as Adams and just made it to his first Pro Bowl.
Would the Jets be able to trade Adams to the Ravens? This may only be a tertiary option of the seven listed at best, but it is an intriguing fit. Swapping a defensive back out for another seems like a very clean break if you ask me. Though the Humphrey-for-Adams deal seems more enticing by the second, the Ravens are too smart to get wrapped up in perpetual Jets dysfunction.
It shouldn’t be a favorite, but the Jets trading Adams to the Ravens sure does feel interesting.