Report: New York Jets Considering Release or Trade of $140 Million Player
The New York Jets knocked their first big decision of the offseason out of the park but there are a lot more that need to be made as well.
New York’s first big domino of the offseason has fallen as the Jets landed former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator and Jets star cornerback Aaron Glenn to be the team’s next head coach. That decision is out of the way and now the team needs to find their next general manager.
Once the general manager is in place, then the tough task of addressing the roster will come into play. At this point, really anything could happen. That isn’t conjecture. There isn’t a general manager in place at this time so we can’t know what their strategy or plan is going to be.
One thing that is certain is that the Jets will have to make decisions about Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams’ future. The two are linked together and both decisions will be tough. Adams arguably is going to be the more interesting player to watch of the two. If he hits the open market, he immediately becomes the top receiver available.
If Adams stays, clearly something needs to be done with his contract. He signed a five-year, $140 million deal and his cap hit for 2025 is over $38 million. That will be the case in 2026 as well. Former NFL agent and current CBS Sports columnist Joel Corry made a list of 15 trade or cut candidates for the offseason and had Adams on his list.
“This year (2025) was always going to be the year of reckoning with Adams regardless of whether he was dealt to the Jets in October for a third-round pick or remained with the (Las Vegas Raiders),” Corry said. “Adams was never going to play the 2025 and 2026 seasons under the $36.25 million he’s scheduled to make in each of those years.
“The salaries were included for cosmetic purposes to artificially inflate the five-year, $140 million deal he received from the Raiders to make him the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver on paper at $28 million per year rather than signing a three-year, $67.5 million contract averaging $22.5 million per year. Adams is less likely to renegotiate his contract if Rodgers is no longer with the Jets.”
This makes a lot of sense. It doesn’t mean that Adams can’t return, though. He can easily renegotiate the deal to make something work for the two sides. If Rodgers doesn’t return, it would be somewhat of a surprise if Adams did. In that scenario, it would make sense to see him get cut or traded.
