Like me, you’ll have spent your Sunday morning watching Aaron Rodgers throw three interceptions and 22 extra incomplete passes for the Jets in London. You’ll have seen Rodgers’ throws glide off the fingertips of virtually each pass-catcher in a New York uniform as they nonetheless managed to mount a half-hearted comeback in a 23-17 loss to the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.
I ponder if Davante Adams discovered himself on his sofa, nursing that balky hamstring, watching this similar recreation. Perhaps he was conserving tabs on his former quarterback and the staff in inexperienced and white and pondering to himself, “Yeah… these are my guys. I can work with this.”
The sinking Las Vegas Raiders are apparently prepared to maneuver on from Adams, with coach Antonio Pierce including to the drama each step of the way in which. Adams, who lengthy maintained publicly that he wished to remain in Vegas, is now open to a commerce, too.
The standard insiders have reported that commerce talks “ought to ramp up over the subsequent 48 hours” and that Adams would like a touchdown spot with a quarterback he’s performed with earlier than — the 2-3 Jets and Rodgers, or the New Orleans Saints and Derek Carr.
The Raiders could possibly begin a bidding battle pitting not solely the Jets and Saints, but additionally different groups in opposition to one another. In spite of everything, a star like Adams makes any staff higher.
However New York is hardly assured to get that a lot better if it pulls off the transfer. Of the Jets’ myriad of issues, the quantity of extensive receiver expertise ranks fairly low, for a change.
Full disclosure right here: I’m a Jets fan, fairly younger however nonetheless of the “long-suffering” selection. (When you assume there’s some type of moral drawback with me writing about this staff in knowledgeable capability, effectively, if Jets fan Wealthy Eisen was allowed to do play-by-play for the London recreation, I feel I’m inside my rights to criticize them.)
There are a number of factors we will make in favor of a Jets commerce for Adams. Rodgers and Adams have related on 76 touchdowns between the common season and playoffs in an eight-year marriage in Inexperienced Bay, tied for fifth most by a quarterback-receiver duo in league historical past. The Jets nonetheless have faint playoff hopes as a result of the AFC East is weaker than anticipated, with the Buffalo Payments at 3-2 however immediately trying weak and the Miami Dolphins feeling round at nighttime and not using a strong quarterback.
And as laborious because the previous few years (or a long time) have been on followers of this staff, simply saying “we will’t have good issues” doesn’t imply you don’t attempt. I noticed this angle in 2020 from antagonists of the Jets in addition to some supposed followers — it went like, “Why get excited concerning the probability to land Trevor Lawrence? We’ll simply discover a strategy to spoil him too.” I get that this group evokes nihilism in folks, however that worldview frankly sucks.
That mentioned, the Jets aren’t one star receiver away from a Tremendous Bowl, simply as, lo and behold, they weren’t one ageing future Corridor of Famer at quarterback away from changing into unstoppable. Rodgers threw two of his three interceptions on Sunday within the first quarter alone, each on fairly unhealthy selections, not flukes or tipped balls.
The Jets already banked a lot on Rodgers remodeling them. They put in his most well-liked offensive coordinator and signed one other former Packer teammate, Allen Lazard, at receiver. (Don’t overlook a really washed Randall Cobb in 2023!) Then why is the man’s cadence and timing along with his teammates so clearly off, and why would another acquainted face make that disappear?
The opposite large problem is that coach Robert Saleh hasn’t had the Jets ready, seen at its worst in an unsightly 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 4. So it doesn’t assist when Rodgers can be completely predictable with who he needs to throw to. He pressured an unwise cross to his buddy Lazard within the pink zone on Sunday earlier than Lazard finally scored, and he tried one other extraordinarily low-percentage shot to Tyler Conklin in double protection on the aim line.
There’s a universe the place the Jets proper the ship. Perhaps it’s with Adams and perhaps it’s not, however many of the center a part of their schedule is eminently beatable apart from the Houston Texans. Tons must go proper — the working recreation has to rank higher than thirty second in a 32-team league, and somebody would wish to wave a magic wand over an offensive line that’s barely holding issues collectively.
Mortgaging extra of your future to pair Adams together with your 40-year-old quarterback doesn’t paper over these issues. And it could make in the end lacking the playoffs damage the followers twice as a lot.