One day after suffering their third straight loss, the Jets finalized a blockbuster trade Tuesday for star wide receiver Davante Adams in an effort to save their floundering season.
The Jets sent a 2025 conditional third-round pick to the Raiders in exchange for Adams, who reunites with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The two played together for eight seasons with the Packers and they were one of the best quarterback-wide receiver combinations in football.
“We’re back, man,” Adams said from the Jets’ training center during Rodgers’ weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “We’re back.”
The draft pick the Raiders receive can become a second-rounder if Adams is a first- or second-team All-Pro selection this season or he is on the active roster for the AFC Championship Game or Super Bowl.
The framework of the trade was in place before Monday’s 23-20 loss to the Bills, and Adams took a red-eye flight to New Jersey overnight Monday and had his physical with the Jets on Tuesday morning.
“Obviously, I’m really excited,” Rodgers, who found out at 12:45 a.m. on Tuesday about the trade, told McAfee. “It’s on us now. We’re going all-in.”
The move is the latest swing for the fences by Jets owner Woody Johnson, who fired head coach Robert Saleh last week and replaced him with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich as the interim coach.
Follow the latest on the New York Jets’ trade for star receiver Davante Adams:
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- Davante Adams reacts to colossal Jets trade with cryptic Instagram post
- Davante Adams took red-eye flight to NJ as Jets finalized trade
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Johnson said last week that he believes this is the best roster he has had in 25 years as the Jets owner. Now, it has gotten better.
Adams is a six-time Pro Bowler who caught 615 passes for 7,529 yards and 68 touchdowns from Rodgers between 2014 and 2021.
Johnson was asked at the owners meetings in Atlanta on Tuesday if he thinks this season is “salvageable.”
“Salvageable? We’re going to kick … you can add the words after that,” Johnson told reporters there. “We’re going to do really well.”
The addition of Adams, who turns 32 in December, theoretically gives a boost to an offense that has not scored more than 24 points this season and has sputtered in key situations over the last three losses.
“[He’s] not only an elite player, as we all know, but the relationship with him and Aaron just takes his value to a whole other space for us,” Ulbrich said.
The Jets first pursued Adams last year but were rebuffed by the Raiders both before the season and at the trade deadline.
Once Adams asked for a trade last month, the Jets began pursuing him again in earnest.
There were a few other teams interested, but the Jets were the most aggressive suitor.
The Raiders are not paying any of Adams’ salary, so the Jets are taking on about $11.59 million that Adams is still owed this season.
His contract runs through 2026 and his salary skyrockets to $36.25 million for each of those seasons, but the money is not guaranteed so Adams is likely a one-year rental for the Jets unless they rework his contract.
Adams missed the last three games for the Raiders with a hamstring injury.
Ulbrich would not say whether he thinks Adams can play this Sunday when the Jets face the Steelers on Sunday night, though ESPN reported Adams expects to play.
“I hope so, but it’s too early to assess right now,” Ulbrich said of Adams playing.
The Adams trade could mean Mike Williams is the odd man out. The Jets signed Williams to a one-year, $10 million deal in March but he has not clicked with Rodgers.
Williams has 10 catches for 145 yards and Rodgers said that Williams ran the wrong route on the final offensive play Monday night, which resulted in an interception.
The Jets surely would like to trade Williams if they can find a taker.
The Jets now have Adams, Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, Williams and Xavier Gipson as their receivers.
“I think we’ll figure that out in the next couple of days, how all these pieces fit together,” Ulbrich said. “It’s an exciting and a good problem to have because we’ve got a lot of different guys with a lot of different skill sets that can do a lot of different things. Todd and his staff will have some sleepless nights with some good problems.”
It will also be interesting to see how this affects Wilson, the Jets’ young star.
Things started slowly this season for Wilson, but he has come on in the last two weeks.
“I think it’s really going to help Garrett out,” Rodgers said of adding Adams.
