Cleveland Browns should pass on Jamal Adams trade

Given the Cleveland Browns current roster and players that will need to be resigned, they should not trade for New York Jets safety Jamal Adams.

With most sports still sidelined due to Covid-19, the NFL rumor mill is still running at full steam. The latest reports are that Jamal Adams wants a new long-term deal from the Jets before the season starts and if he does not get one, he will want out of New York. Some have flagged the Cleveland Browns as a potential suitor. The Browns would be wise to pass on Adams at this time.

Is Adams an elite safety in the NFL? Yes. Has Adams already peaked or has he yet to realize his full potential? The sky is the limit for the dynamic safety. Then why should the Browns pass on the opportunity to add him to their roster? Glad you asked. The juice would not be worth the squeeze for the Browns at this current time.

If the reports are true that Adams is unhappy with his current contract and wants a new lucrative long-term deal, would that change if he were to be traded to Cleveland? Absolutely not, he would still be looking to break the bank. Mind you, that is exactly what he should be trying to do.

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One of the reasons that the Browns are being looked at as a potential trading partner for Adams is the amount of cap space they currently have. This is true, according to Spotrac the Browns have the most cap remaining in 2020 with just over $37 million. On paper, this is completely legitimate, the problem is the Browns drafted really well in the first round of the 2017 and 2018 NFL drafts.

By trading the rumored asking price, a first and third-round draft choice (according to former New York columnist Gary Myers) for Adams and then having to turn around and sign him to a long-term deal would seal the fate of one, if not more, of your own homegrown talent.

With Myles Garrett first up to bat for a new contract, and then Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward shortly thereafter, the cap space that the Browns have is pretty well accounted for.

Money aside, what kind of message would be trading those kinds of assets and then signing Adams to a long-term deal send to a player like Garrett? It would only be natural to feel slighted seeing your team bend over backward to make a deal happen when you haven’t been offered a long-term deal yet. That’s exactly what the Browns do not need right now.

From a roster standpoint, Browns’ general manager Andrew Berry has done an exemplary job at stocking the safety room for this season. Drafting Grant Delpit and then signing Karl Joseph and Andrew Sendejo to one-year deals gives the Browns solid starters, depth, and flexibility to move on after this season if they are not happy with how that positional group performs.

In the end, all of this is just hypothetical chatter. The New York Jets hold all the cards as they have Adams under contract through the next two seasons currently and could make that three if they choose to use the franchise tag. If they do decide to trade one of the premier safeties in the NFL, best believe they are going to get a king’s ransom for doing so.

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The Browns would be wise not to mortgage their future when they are currently building upon a solid foundation of young talented players that they need to keep in order to get where they want to go. Let someone else rob Peter to pay Paul. The Browns have more important things to do with their money. Cough, cough…pay Myles Garrett.

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