Should Atlanta Falcons enter the Jamal Adams sweepstakes?
The Atlanta Falcons need a veteran leader in their secondary, but is Jets safety Jamal Adams a guy that they should target?
Heading into the 2020 NFL season, the Atlanta Falcons have a lot of young, raw talent in their secondary specifically at corner. Having a proven young guy like Jamal Adams at safety would help ease concerns that exist in what is easily the weakest group of the Falcons defense.
Both Jamal Adams and Keanu Neal both play strong safety. The concern about Neal is obviously his recent rash of season-ending knee injuries over the last two seasons that have caused him to miss 28 games in that time frame.
Jamal Adams is a year younger than Keanu Neal and has been one of the best strong safeties in the game. He was a Pro-Bowl selection for the last two years and an All-Pro selection in 2019. As we know, the only year that Neal started all 16 games for the Atlanta Falcons, he too was a Pro Bowl selection.
Adams has made it known publicly that he wants to be traded out of New York. Who can blame the guy? Jets fans are terrible and the franchise is one of the worst in football. Bringing him to the NFC South would actually make sense from a football-playing standpoint.
An intriguing aspect of entertaining the thought of trading for Adams is facing the quarterbacks and weapons in the NFC South. The NFC South is once again the best division in the NFL and is loaded with offensive talent at the quarterback, running back and receiver positions.
Jamal Adams trade would set Atlanta Falcons back even further
At the end of the day, the ask for Jamal Adams from the Jets would be far too much to turn over and would ruin future drafts. While he is talented, it would likely require something like the Falcons gave up to acquire the right to draft Julio Jones back in 2011 and he just is not worth it.
In addition to trading future draft picks and a player or two on the current roster, the Atlanta Falcons would also have to negotiate a new deal for Adams, who has just two more years left on his rookie contract.
Jamal Adams’ future contract demands loom large in trade talks. If he wants pay among top defensive players - which one source whose team has looked into Adams believes - that’s well above $20M per year, while safety market is below $15M. Tough for a SS, no matter how good.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) June 19, 2020
According to Jeremy Fowler at ESPN, Adams is seeking more than $20 million a year in a new deal. While some team may be stupid enough to give him that type of money, that won’t be the Atlanta Falcons now or anytime in the future.
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While the concern is in the secondary by Atlanta Falcons fans is understandable, trading assets away for Jamal Adams would be a terrible idea and would set the franchise back even further. The Falcons should definitely add a piece to the secondary but it needs to be a veteran corner, not a young safety that is unhappy three years into his career.