The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are rumored to be one of the connections for S Jamal Adams
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made some major moves during the 2020 offseason that have them set to become legitimate competitors for the NFL postseason.
The Buccaneers added names like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski to an already-talented young roster.
While the Bucs have continued to make splash-after-splash, one name that has consistently come up in conversations is the potential for a trade involving New York Jets Safety Jamal Adams.
Adams, whose contract is set to run out following this season, has made it fairly clear that he doesn’t want to remain in New York. Adams informed the Jets earlier this week that he officially requesting permission to see a trade. Adams originally told the Jets that he would welcome a trade to the Ravens, Cowboys, Texans, Chiefs, Eagles, 49ers or Seahawks, according to a report from Adam Schefter.
A day later, Field Yates reported that another team on the Adams’ preferred trade list was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Adams told Ryan Clark that he would love to play in Tampa Bay and have the opportunity to reunite with Todd Bowles.
Add another team to Jamal Adams’ list of preferred trade destinations: the Buccaneers. He told @Realrclark25 he’d love to play in Tampa Bay, which would reunite him with Todd Bowles.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) June 19, 2020
Why the Buccaneers need to stay away from Jamal Adams
It’s easy to see why the Buccaneers would pursue Jamal Adams and we’ve written extensively about that.
Adams is one of the best safeties in the league and he has the talent to take this defense to another level. Adams is an All-Pro level player who would come in and become the single-best player on the defense.
That being said, there’s also a few reasons that the Bucs should stay away from the safety and they have nothing to do with his ability on the field.
First, it’s unclear that there’s a true interest for him to stay in Tampa Bay long-term.
Is Adams- the best safety in the league- really going to sign a three-year or four-year deal to stay in Tampa? That first list of teams that he released are basically all legitimate contenders with brand recognition (with the exception of the Cowboys, who have name value).
What if things fall apart with the Bucs this year? What if they don’t go according to plan? Would Adams simply walk away when his contract runs out and leave Tampa Bay with nothing as a result?
The other problem is also the fact that he’s threatening to sit out in New York– with two years left on his contract.
If the Bucs were to get Adams to agree to a long-term deal as part of the trade- which by the way would be a heavy hit to the salary cap for the next few years- there’s always that question of what happens down the road. (Not to mention the fact that he already represents a $9.8 million hit to the cap during the 2021 season in a year where Tom Brady will still be on the books and the Bucs will be looking to sign Shaq Barrett to a presumptive long-term deal.)
What if during Year 3 of his future contract he decides he’s unhappy and elects to sit out and requests another trade?
The talent is there, but there are too many questions surrounding the financial and reliability portion of this situation to warrant the Buccaneers giving up valuable capital to get a player of Adams’ caliber. It might all work out perfectly, but that’s a major risk that could leave the future- and possibly even the present- of the franchise in shambles if things fell through.