If Jamal Adams is traded to the Houston Texans, here’s what to expect.
Find your passion, just like Bill O’Brien has for trading away his best players.
The Houston Texans head coach and de facto general manager has already sent defensive end Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals. O’Brien is wilder than the wildest wildcatter when it comes to striking a deal. Could he have it in him to orchestrate a trade for disgruntled New York Jets safety Jamal Adams?
Adams announced on Thursday afternoon his wishes to be traded from Gang Green. In three years with the Jets, Adams has made two trips to the Pro Bowl, earning First-Team All-Pro status last season. However, the Jets have been one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NFL for the last decade and haven’t sniffed the playoffs since Mark Sanchez was their starting quarterback.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted out a list of seven teams Adams would prefer to be traded to. They are all contending teams, as Adams has absolutely no interest playing for a losing organization any more. The Dallas-Fort Worth native has the Texans listed because a return home to the Lone Star State would be nice, as would winning the AFC South four out of five years.
So do the Texans have it in the cards to pull off a blockbuster trade for Adams? Do they have the pieces in place to entice Jets general manager Joe Douglas to send his team’s best player Houston’s way? Let’s find out how the Texans could end up with Adams in their defensive backfield heading into the 2020 NFL season.
Here is what a Jamal Adams trade to the Houston Texans could look like.
If the Jets covet a 2021 first-round pick, the Texans are the last team to call for that sort of thing. That’s because the Texans’ first-round pick next spring belongs to the Miami Dolphins stemming from the Laremy Tunsil trade. Tunsil seems to finally be tapping into the hype surrounding him coming out of Ole Miss. One day soon, we’ll forget he wore a gas mask as a student in Oxford.
Could O’Brien channel his inner Les Snead/Ted Stepien and completely punt on the idea of the Texans ever having a first-round pick again? I mean, he does want to win and a future pick doesn’t help a head coach win in the present, which is why having your head coach as your general manager hardly ever works out. Only Bill Belichick has the discipline to pull both roles off well.
So landing Adams would take at least a 2022 first-round pick, but the Jets will want something else in return. O’Brien could give the Jets more picks than Douglas would ever know what to do with. That could suffice Douglas’ need for fair compensation for Adams, but what about the players, man? Who could go from red, white and blue to green and white in one offseason trade?
The Jets would probably want to target someone in the front-seven of the Texans defense. Guys like Benardrick McKinney or Whitney Mercilus plus a pick could be what the Jets are looking for. Good luck trying to get the Texans to part ways with J.J. Watt because that’s not ever happening. Maybe a wide receiver like Kenny Stills or Will Fuller could go the Jets’ way in a blockbuster deal?
Ultimately, the Texans are an interesting trade partner for the Jets in the Adams sweepstakes because O’Brien is the one who has final say in the Houston organization. If he gave up that much for Tunsil, could you imagine what he’d give up for a safety with only two years left on his rookie deal? Being in the AFC doesn’t help the Jets, but the Texans being the Texans sure does.
Don’t count on Adams going to the Jets, but don’t be shocked if we get another O’Brien deal done.