Does Davante Adams make sense?

Edition #549

Good morning! ☕

A very Happy New Year to all TJW readers. I hope you all had a great finish to 2023 and a good start to 2024. This year I hope we all experience health happiness and some good old Jets wins.

This is also the new send time for the newsletter. 5 am EST (10:00 am GMT) was always the plan, but with two kids who take up a considerable amount of my morning, I decided that for 2024 I would push it back a few hours to allow me to react and cover anything that happens overnight.

With NFL Free Agency the next marquee event for the Jets, the extra two hours will allow me some room to breathe with deals that usually happen around 2 am my time.

So with that being said, welcome to another year of TJW and thank you for everyone who continues to support the newsletter.

👋 There is some talk that Sunday may be the final game for Bill Belichick in New England following a season where he’s guaranteed to finish bottom of the AFC East. Bill has a record of 266-120 with New England and more Championships than I care to remember, but since Tom Brady left in 2020 he has a 29-37 record with only one playoff game, a 47-17 demolition by the Bills in 2021. Belichick refused to be drawn into a conversation on his future insisting: “Yeah, I’m focused on getting ready for the Jets--We haven’t played them in a long time, been all season, so I’m going to work on the Jets here and get ready to go.”

🤔 The Jets currently carry a 15-game losing streak against the Patriots. The fanbase is divided on whether they want a win which would likely result in New England having the opportunity to draft one of the top QBs, or a loss…which always sucks against the Patriots. If it is to be Bill’s final game, sending him off with a loss would be nice.

👣 Rex Ryan who’s never afraid to offer an opinion said exactly what we’ve been thinking. During a radio appearance on DiPietro and Rothenberg, he plainly stated: “They [the Jets] have a really good defence. We get that, it’s a really good defence. Fix that dang offensive line. Maybe get another playmaker in there on offense, but spend everything you got on that offense, We brought in Aaron Rodgers to take a shot at the championship and you ought to do it.” Can you completely ignore the defence this off-season? No, you can’t. You have to decide on Bryce Huff, do you sign him to a long-term deal? Do you sign and trade him? We’ll explore all those options. You have to address the run defence and who’s playing next to Quinnen, you have to decide what you’re doing at SS, Whitehead is an FA, Clark is an FA etc. But, 80% of your asset distribution should be on offence this off-season.

🚔 According to a report by TMZ, Muhammad Wilkerson was arrested (again) last week after being pulled over and failing sobriety tests, police also found an open bottle of tequila and a loaded gun inside his vehicle, Wilkerson was unable to provide the documentation for the gun. This is the third time Wilkerson has been arrested for DWI since 2019. Wilkerson was a Pro Bowl DT with the Jets, but many questioned his motivation and dedication once he got his second contract.

🔴⚪ NFL insider Benjamin Allbright, who works out of Denver had a couple of interesting nuggets this weekend. The first was related to the backup QB plan for the Jets. “I heard a rumour that the Jets might make a play for him [Justin Fields] to backup Aaron Rodgers next year.” - I was a big proponent of Fields over Zach around draft time, and I’m a self-confessed Fields homer, so I’d love this. Is it the right play for the Jets? I’m very unsure, but it’s something we’ll address in more detail this week. Obviously for the Bears to move on from Fields, they’ll need to draft a Caleb Williams or Drake Maye…which I think they’ll do.

🟠 Rich Cimini believes the Jets will be targeting Jacoby Brissett this off-season saying on the Michael Kay show: “Jacoby Brissett, I think is a guy the Jets have had their eye on for a while and of course, he played really well last week against them,” That to me would be a very smart decision and something many wanted last off-season.

✖️ There was also a rumour doing the rounds this weekend that the Jets were interested in reuniting with Jamal Adams. The former Jets safety landed on IR again this season and it’s expected that Seattle will cut him loose. There was a lot of animosity between the Jets fanbase and Adams when he left and he hasn’t performed or shown the ability to stay healthy, so I’m not sure why they’d want him back. Maybe to play linebacker? Because he sure can’t cover. I’d be surprised if this happened.

🧀 Rich Cimini in his latest article outlined players on Aaron Rodgers's wish list, and again it’s largely just a group of his friends. You take the time to listen to Aaron, but he’s not the GM. You don’t just bend over backwards for him, you sustainably build a team based on a player’s projected performance in the upcoming season, not what they achieved together 5 years ago. Players on the list include Raiders wide receiver Devante Adams (trade candidate), Green Bay trio Aaron Jones (cut candidate), AJ Dillon (FA) and guard Jon Runyan (FA), as well as former Packers and current Bears tight end (Robert Tonyan). Ready for Lambo Leapers Part 2?

😬 There was a really interesting note from Albert Breer on Woody Johnson overruling Joe Douglas on a draft pick. It seems to suggest that Joe Douglas loved Ickey Ekwonu to the point where he was a consideration over Sauce Gardner. “Wasn't referencing '21. It was more '22 ... Lots of smoke in NFL circles that the Jets loved Ickey Ekwonu leading up to that draft. Worked out for them with Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson. But would they have been better off with a left tackle? Fair question.” A lot of people like Ekwonu but I wasn’t one of them. Ekwonu has been extremely poor since entering the league, he followed up a rookie year where he allowed 6-sacks and 27 pressures with a 10-sack, 41-pressure season this year, he’s also had 25 penalties called against him in two years.

🟢⚪ You are going to hear the name Davante Adams a lot over the next few months.