Getty Jamal Adams
At first, the Dallas Cowboys reportedly offered at least two draft picks in an effort to pry away Jamal Adams from the New York Jets. They failed.
So they tried again …
“I’m told the Cowboys’ final offer was a first-rounder and a backup-level player,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote Tuesday night, after the NFL trade deadline passed and Dallas failed to acquire the Pro Bowl safety. “And that was not the best offer the Jets got. At the wire, three teams were involved: Dallas, Baltimore (which was serious about acquiring Adams) and a third team that made that blockbuster bid to get Adams.”
The undisclosed blockbuster bid, Breer confirmed, consisted of a first-rounder and two second-round choices, as the Jets sought compensation similar to what the Jaguars received for star defensive back Jalen Ramsey.
Ultimately, the price was too rich for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ blood. Jones reportedly was willing to part with first-round and third-day selections in exchange for Adams, a Texas native who expressed a deep desire to return home.
Local and national media members painted the chaotic picture. A tease of a tweet from NFL Network’s Jane Slater — who reported, with minutes remaining until the 4 p.m. ET deadline, that Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett was meeting with passing game coordinator Kris Richard and safeties coach Greg Jackson — was followed by her coworker, Ian Rapoport, announcing no deal would be consummated.
Simply put, the Jets weren’t letting go of the 24-year-old Adams for less than a king’s ransom. Even simpler, Dallas wasn’t willing to surrender that level of capital despite a giant and self-admitted need to replace backup-level safety Jeff Heath.
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Could Cowboys Acquire Adams This Offseason?
The Cowboys may have lost the battle for Adams, but the war isn’t over yet. It’s just getting started, in fact. There’s optimism that, eventually, he’ll find his way back to the Lone Star State.
The Lewisville native, who attended high school at Hebron, is expected to be an offseason target of the Cowboys, according to Maven Sports’ Mike Fisher, who tweeted after the deadline expired, “Too bad it didn’t work out. #Cowboys will simply pursue @TheAdamsEra again later. Seriously.”
Fisher’s opinion likely is rooted in informed speculation from inside The Star. But he also put two and two together, seeing as how Adams unloaded on Gang Green’s front office czar on Twitter a few hours following the realization he’d been lied to.
“Any reports of me asking to be traded from the New York Jets are completely false,” he wrote, before adding, “At the end of the week last week, I sat down with the GM and Coach Gase and told them I want to be here in New York. I was told yesterday by my agent that the GM then went behind my back and shopped me around to teams, even after I asked him to keep me here! Crazy business.”
Adams Confirms Interest in Dallas
At the height of the Adams drama, ESPN analyst and former NFL safety Ryan Clark went on air and claimed the 2017 No. 6 overall pick badly wants to play for the Cowboys. This was the icing on the speculation cake, and it led many to believe a trade was imminent.
Obviously, it never transpired, but Clark, it turns out, wasn’t lying. Holding court with the media Wednesday, in a surreal if somewhat awkward gathering, Adams boldly stated his desire to don the star at some point or another.
“That was one of the teams I told him I’d love to go to, the Dallas Cowboys,” he said, per The Athletic. “People got to understand, man, I was born and raised in Dallas. … Michael Irvin is like my uncle.”
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Cowboys Made Unique ‘Final Offer’ to Jets for Jamal Adams: Report