New York Jets wide receiver Davante Adams reportedly has plenty of leverage heading into the upcoming NFL offseason.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport noted Sunday the AFC East team "will never pay him" the $35.64 million for each year in 2025 and 2026 he is currently owed. Since "all sides know those numbers will have to be redone," Adams can decline any of the team's offers and wait to become a free agent when the Jets inevitably release him in such a hypothetical.
"Adams controls his own path," Rapoport wrote. "Obviously, the Jets would have preferred to have worked out an entirely redone contract with Adams, allowing him to stay for 2025 with no issues or making his contract tradable if it didn't work out."
It's not a stretch to suggest Adams' future with the Jets will be tied to that of Aaron Rodgers.
There has been no shortage of speculation that Rodgers could be elsewhere in 2025, and Rapoport even reported last Sunday that the quarterback "is considered right now to be a long shot to return to the Jets."
New York trading for Adams this season meant reuniting quarterback with receiver, as the pair also played together for the Green Bay Packers for eight seasons and were one of the best one-two punches in the league at their peak.
"I would love to be a part of this football team," Adams told reporters Wednesday. "... I'd love to go to war with these guys, but it's a business and there are a lot of pieces, contractually, and, obviously, with Aaron's future—a lot of things that I can't control."
The veteran pass-catcher has been solid but unspectacular for the Jets with 31 catches for 344 yards and two touchdowns in six games since they acquired him from the Las Vegas Raiders via trade.
He hasn't been the same version of the playmaker who led the league in receiving touchdowns in 2020 and again in 2022, which is why the Jets surely aren't looking to pay him so much money in his age 33 and 34 seasons in 2025 and 2026.
And Adams might not want to come back if Rodgers leaves, which works out in his favor given the overwhelming leverage he will have during the offseason.
It will be a situation to monitor that will surely draw plenty of headlines as the offseason approaches, but a clean break may be in store for both sides after a disappointing 2024 campaign.
