Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jamal Adams a perfect trade target

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were able to turn their secondary around in 2019 and the addition of safety Jamal Adams would help take them to the next level.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in dire need of a superstar in their secondary. While they may have several future superstars on their roster, the Bucs could certainly afford to go after a proven player this offseason as the target of a trade. First team All-Pro member in 2019, second team All-Pro member in 2018, and two-time Pro Bowler Jamal Adams would be a perfect candidate for this position and appears to desire a change of scenery.

The New York Jets have quickly fallen out of favor with Adams and seem to be doing little to remedy the situation. After Adams made it clear that he was loyal to the Jets in the middle of the season, word came out that the Jets were not outright shutting down trade offers for the star safety which created a schism between Adams and the team.

The head coach for the Jets, Adam Gase, has also handled other sticky situations in a questionable way. When asked about the future of several big-name players like Le’Veon Bell, Gase has remained noncommittal which has started to divide the players and the organization even more.

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With the Jets descending into chaos, it seems extremely likely that Jamal Adams will begin to look for a way out of New York. One of the best places that Adams could hope to land would be Tampa Bay with former head coach Todd Bowles.

Todd Bowles was the head coach for the Jets when they drafted Adams and already has a relationship established with the young safety. Bowles also runs a defense in Tampa Bay that Adams would thrive in and be a leader on. While talented enough to excel on any defense in the league, Adams would have a hard time finding a better fit than the one in Tampa.

If the Buccaneers want to make a run at Adams, they would have to make several difficult but necessary decisions. For starters, the Bucs would have to not re-sign players like Ndamukong Suh, Breshad Perriman, and Demar Dotson. All three of these players cost far too much relative to their levels of production and roles on the team.

These players will have far cheaper options available in the draft and free agency and the cap space that this move would create would be far better used on Jamal Adams rather than something like a WR3. Adams’ 2020 cap hit would be less than Suh’s was in 2019, but if this move was to happen it seems unlikely that Suh would remain on the team.

The Buccaneers may have the cap space to bring in Adams but would struggle as far as the trade would be concerned. The Bucs would likely have to give up several high-round picks which would bring up a substantial dilemma: should the Bucs give up the draft pick that could replace Suh to bring in Adams? The answer, in short, should be yes.

While many fans seem to vehemently defend Suh, pff.com graded him out lower than William Gholston. The Buccaneers could absolutely find a replacement of this caliber in a later round or as a free agent but could use every draft pick for several years and never find a safety of Adams’ caliber.

Even though it would be tough to make happen, the Buccaneers should go after Jamal Adams as hard as they can. The modern NFL necessitates a solid secondary to keep up with the every-efficient pass, and Jamal Adams would certainly bring the quality of the secondary up. The Buccaneers should absolutely be willing to give up almost any combination of picks to bring Adams in-especially considering how close the Buccaneers are to competing for a playoff spot in 2020.