When Davante Adams got traded from the Las Vegas Raiders to the New York Jets, some viewed it as a rental for the 2024 season.
However, his new contract with the team tells a very different story. Adams was originally signed through the 2026 season, but the last two years of his deal featured base salaries of over $35 million. That was an untenable figure that no team was going to pay.
After the 2024 season, Adams didn’t have any guaranteed money. That is no longer the case. According to Spotrac, Adams now has $11.59 million in guaranteed money in 2025 essentially ensuring his spot on the roster next year.
Jets content creator Matt O’Leary said he wasn’t surprised by the contract alteration, adding, “This seems to imply that Davante Adams (and likely Aaron Rodgers) will be back in 2025.”
Jets Running It Back?
Things have not gone according to plan at all this season, let alone since the Jets acquired Adams.
The Jets are 0-2 with Adams having a pair of key AFC losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots respectively. Gang Green has dropped to 2-6 and is much closer to having a top-five pick than going on a miracle run to the playoffs.
However, both Rodgers and Adams said the same things shortly after the trade went through. The vision for this wasn’t a half-season rental.
“That’s the plan [to be here beyond 2024]. I never go somewhere in hopes of finding a new home,” Adams said.
“I mean Davante just had a kid 2 months ago. So to move his family across the country for a few months, I don’t think, is high on his priority list,” Rodgers said in a different interview.
A New Regime Will Be in Place for 2025 and Beyond
Ultimately the final decision to run it back or not will fall on the new regime that is set to take over in 2025.
Head coach Robert Saleh was already fired and general manager Joe Douglas appears to be on very thin ice.
Douglas was hired back in 2019 on a six-year contract. Under his leadership, the team has a 29-62 record. By the time the 2024 season comes to its conclusion, Douglas will have managed this team for 100 games.
This is a results-oriented business and to put it bluntly, the results have stunk under his direction.
A new head coach is coming guaranteed and likely a new general manager to boot. That group will decide if they want to run it back with Rodgers, Adams, and company to try and win in 2025. Or blow the whole thing up sky-high.
The problem with door No. 2 is the Jets don’t have a clear alternative at the quarterback position if they go away from Rodgers.
The optimal plan might be balancing both worlds. Rodgers is 40 and will turn 41 in December. Next season, if he were to return, he would turn 42 by December of the 2025 season. The Jets don’t have a long-term answer at the quarterback position and no an injured former fifth-round pick in Jordan Travis doesn’t count.
Gang Green can run it back with Rodgers and Adams and at the same time take a young passer with a high selection in the draft. Allow that player to learn from Rodgers and go compete like crazy for next season.
It is a plan so crazy, that it might just work.
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