As he approaches the climax of the film Rounders – as Matt Damon’s poker-rushing character Mike McDermott enters the pit of Teddy KGB’s dank, dimly lit, iron-doored gambling den – he takes a moment to monologue about the depths that he has finally achieved.
He’s in the wrong trouble, with the worst kind of people, and seizes one last chance to save himself.
“I’ve seen these people many times,” says McDermott, “these squares at the table, with a small pile and long odds against them, all their outs gone, one last card in the pile that can help them. I always wondered how they could get themselves into such bad shape… and how on earth they thought they could turn it around.”
That’s the feeling that comes to mind right now when I think about these New York Jets. I see a franchise that is already in dire straits this season – having spent everything at its disposal with a finally healthy Aaron Rodgers – experiencing yet another devastating return on its investments. The quarterback got his chosen destination, chosen offensive coordinator and there was plenty of talent around him. The offensive line was put on edge. The plan was adapted to his preferences.
But after a putrid loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 3, the Jets responded by looking completely off-kilter offensively for much of the day against the Minnesota Vikings in a 23-17 loss in London. Granted, it was against one of the most veiled and confusing schemes in the league, orchestrated by Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. But these Jets, led by a smart and wise 40-year-old Rodgers, had to be built to overcome those kinds of hurdles.
Now it’s becoming hard to ignore a broader picture that’s looking worse by the week, with the Jets’ only pair of wins coming against the struggling Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots – two of the AFC’s bottom franchises who have a combined Forming a 2-unit. 7 this season and has faltered badly at quarterback.
When you look at the Jets from that broader angle, you have to wonder – in the words of Mike McDermott – how the Jets got into such a bad state and how on earth they think they can get out of it. The answer they’ll pursue next week is that proverbial last card in the deck: Las Vegas Raiders hold on Davante Adams. A player being studied trade-wise by a handful of franchises, none seem as desperate as this Jets franchise.
All of this poses a new challenge for the Jets. Sure, they should and want Adams, but should Adams want them back?
There’s no guarantee that the narrative about the Jets being Adams’ top pick is definitively true. Remember, there was a period in 2022 when the overwhelming suspicion was that the Green Bay Packers would sign Adams to a long-term extension shortly after the team finalized a new deal for Rodgers. But it was Adams who took a sharp left turn — stunning even Rodgers — by forcing a trade to the Las Vegas Raiders so he could max out his salary and play alongside his college quarterback, Derek Carr.
At the very least, that proves that Adams isn’t exactly a guaranteed trade partner for New York. And honestly, it’s a much more powerful piece of his history that needs to be weighed — even more so than the cryptic Instagram post featuring a portrait of Edgar Allen Poe that sent all of Baltimore into an uproar. His last big decision had an element of notoriety to Carr, but also a much bigger element in the amount of money he would get. He had been in line for a monster extension for a long time in Green Bay. And eventually, he got tired of waiting behind Rodgers and made a decision for himself.
With Adams approaching age 32, I suspect money will continue to be a factor in his thought process. Not just how much of his salary the Raiders are willing to pay to get him a decent draft pick, but also how feasible it will be for a trade partner to pay him in 2025. Maybe even whether that trading partner is willing to work on some sort of contract adjustment immediately upon his arrival, guaranteeing him money in 2025.
As it stands now, he hasn’t. Instead, he has two years of unguaranteed money left on his deal, worth $72.5 million in base salary, roster and playing bonuses. As it stands now, it’s almost certain that no team will pay for that.
Almost none of the teams willing to trade for him can even afford it, making him little more than a rental fee for them unless he agrees to rework his deal. And if Adams reworks his deal, he wants a big chunk of guaranteed money in 2025. That’s what you do when you enter the offseason at age 32 with only one short-term bite left at the salary apple. . Look how much of this conversation not center around Adams, simply working with a former quarterback buddy?
But since that will be at least part of the conversation, let’s look back at the Jets and ask again whether Adams should be interested in them at all at this stage. First off, the offense seems disjointed at best. The Jets are not managing the football consistently and creating balance in the scheme. The offensive line has had an extremely difficult time since losing right tackle Morgan Moses. And at one point against the Vikings, I couldn’t help but notice Rodgers looking at the sideline and doing the famous “hurry up” finger spin, usually used when irritated quarterbacks want their play-caller to get the play. faster via the radio. It resonated Sunday as Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was mercilessly dragged during his brief stint as the Broncos’ head coach for failing to get plays into the game quickly enough to allow Russell Wilson to reach the line of scrimmage and make the protection calls to solve. and defensive alignments.
So there’s all that. And then there are a few moments that show how well-oiled the machine is, even as the play-calling functions efficiently. Late in the first quarter against the Vikings, Rodgers put a perfect ball in Allen Lazard’s face and the wideout dropped it. On the next play, Rodgers threw the pick-6 interception to Vikings linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel.
That lit a fire under Minnesota that would see them build a 17-0 lead — forcing the Jets to step away from their running game to try to mount a comeback. That lean toward the passing game caused the Vikings to become much more aggressive up front, which led to Rodgers getting hammered repeatedly when he didn’t get the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible.
When it was all over, Rodgers revealed that he had sprained his ankle, stating, “I definitely got beat up.”
If you’re Adams, you have to stop and take that in. If Adams can’t get a chunk of guaranteed money in 2025 as part of the trading parameters, then needs to put up strong numbers this season, or to receive a Super Bowl glow-up with his new team. If he doesn’t get any of these things, he’ll be fired by his new team (to avoid having to pay his huge contract amount in 2025) and face a free agent pick next offseason that could be a lot more frosty than he expected. You can already drop it when talking to other NFL executives. He isn’t viewed as the same top-three or four wideout he was when he was traded to the Raiders in 2022. So the coming months are really important when it comes to the end of his career.
Now consider that Rodgers is already 40 years old, playing beat up and now with a sprained ankle, behind an offensive line that struggles to protect him, and with a young wideout in Garrett Wilson, who is clearly establishing himself as the No. 1 option on the field. the team and has already made some critical comments about the arrangement. Against the Vikings, Rodgers forced Wilson into 22 targets and still missed him sometimes on throws where Wilson didn’t understand what Rodgers wanted, or Rodgers simply misfired. While Wilson has turned into a small-ball wideout who gets the majority of his targets 10 yards and inside. And now the Jets want to add another presumed No. 1 receiver whose best attributes have traditionally been opening up the mid-to-deep areas. from the field? The types of routes that typically require a quarterback to hold the ball a little longer and require better protection?
All that should give Adams pause. As will the Jets’ next two games: at home against the Buffalo Bills and then on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers team, which would also like to be a player in the Adams sweepstakes. Should the Jets lose those two games and fall to 2-5, a situation that already feels shaky could quickly turn ugly. In some ways, you can already see it in the Jets’ fan base after Sunday, where it’s quickly becoming apoplectic on social media.
Of course, Adams could reunite with Rodgers. After Sunday, the Jets are likely desperate enough to make it happen, letting the Raiders shop Adams and then coughing up the top basket of draft picks for his services. But the other side of that deal will still be Adams walking into a franchise that feels like it’s inviting chaos and on the brink of implosion.
Go watch that final climactic chapter of Rounders. Watch Mike McDermott mortgage the last of his friendships. Watch him get into that prison-inspired elevator and descend into a stone-encased bunker that looked like it had one entrance and one exit. It was a scary moment and everything had to go absolutely right to survive and turn everything around. That seems about the definition of the Jets right now. And everyone knows that there is only one last card in the deck that can help them.
But will he?
