Patriots HC Jerod Mayo Likely To Be Fired?
Just a few days ago, we heard that first-year Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo was likely to keep his job for the 2025 season. After all, he was owner Robert Kraft’s hand-picked successor to Bill Belichick, and he inherited a team that was clearly in the early stages of a rebuild, so it would be reasonable to give him some time to learn the ropes as a bench boss and to grow into the role as the club continues to try to improve the roster.
However, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports writes that Mayo has a “weakening case” to be retained, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk hears that “nerves are extremely frayed” among team staffers as they ponder Mayo’s Black Monday fate. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adam Schefter also hears that there seems to have been a shift in organizational thinking over the last month (video link).
As such, Schefter believes that Mayo will be fired. He references fan anger and fan apathy in his report, and Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald notes that Gillette Stadium was only half-full for the team’s 40-7 drubbing at the hands of the Chargers last week, with multiple “fire Mayo” chants breaking out in the stands late in the game.
Fan reactions are presumably not factors that will motivate Kraft to move on from Mayo, but the nature of the Los Angeles loss, in which the team was outclassed in every facet, certainly could. That defeat was the latest in a string of six consecutive losses, and even late-December reports suggesting that Mayo would be safe included the caveat that a “collapse” over the final three games of the season could change things. While the club did put up a valiant effort in a 24-21 loss to the Bills – the AFC’s No. 2 seed – in Week 16, it is hard to describe a six- or seven-game losing streak to close out a season as anything other than a collapse.
Additionally, in contrast to prior reports that the Patriots’ locker room remained united despite the difficult season, some players have told Kyed that the team suffers from a poor culture and lack of leadership. Such discontent, in conjunction with some of Mayo’s public actions that Jones and/or Kyed have classified as “gaffes” – starting Jacoby Brissett in Week 1 despite admitting that Drake Maye had outplayed Brissett in the preseason, seemingly slighting OC Alex Van Pelt in a postgame presser, and telling a pregame radio show that RB Antonio Gibson would start over Rhamondre Stevenson in Week 17 before making a “coach’s decision” to start Stevenson less than an hour later – could certainly spell trouble for Mayo.
Underscoring all of this, of course, is the presence of franchise icon Mike Vrabel, who is one of the two most coveted coaching candidates in this year’s cycle and who is all but certain to get a head coaching job in the near future. If New England wants Vrabel – and if it does, the interest appears mutual – then now would be the time to make the move.
If Mayo is retained, he is expected to add more veteran coaches to his staff, per Jones. Meanwhile, Jones suggests that executive VP of player personnel Eliot Wolf will be retained, and that he could make further changes to the club’s staff. That presumably includes firing Van Pelt.
Wolf will have the No. 1 overall pick at his disposal in the 2025 draft if the Patriots fall to Buffalo in today’s season finale, which would give the team a 3-14 record.
Giants’ GM Joe Schoen, HC Brian Daboll Not A “Package Deal”; Team Inclined To Retain Both?
JANUARY 5, 2025: In keeping with the reports that Schoen and Daboll are not a “package deal,” FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz says that the Giants have put out exploratory feelers to see what options might be available to them if they keep one but fire the other. However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk hears that both men will be retained, and sources that Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports has spoken to also believe that Schoen will keep his job. Those sources likewise feel it is more likely than not that Daboll is back in 2025, though that is less of a sure thing.
Both Florio and Jones note that Mara is unconvinced he could do better than Daboll if he were to go in a different direction. According to Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports, some believe that Mara will feel compelled to fire someone in light of how the 2024 season has gone, and Daboll would be the one to get the axe in that scenario (though Vacchiano also thinks Daboll will ultimately stay).
In any event, Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch will speak with Schoen and Daboll before making a decision, and the club may not make the final call on Black Monday. It could take another day or two before the GM and HC know their fates.
DECEMBER 29, 2024: Late last month, a report on the respective futures of Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll indicated that both men were likely to retain their jobs for the 2025 season. However, our Sam Robinson noted at the time that owner John Mara’s history with such matters would suggest Schoen is safer than Daboll, and multiple outlets have confirmed that the GM and HC are not a “package deal.”
In other words, although Schoen and Daboll were both hired in January 2022 following their successful tenures with the Bills, Mara will evaluate them separately at the end of the season and is open to retaining one and firing the other, as Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Per Russini, there are increased rumblings around the league that Daboll could receive his walking papers, while Schoen continues to believe his job is secure (just as he has throughout the year).
A source close to Mara did indicate that the owner – who said in October that he planned to give Schoen and Daboll another opportunity in 2025 – intends to stay true to his word. However, the fact that the Giants have not won a game since October 6 could obviously change things, and Russini says Mara will sit down with his top power brokers at season’s end, at which point he will presumably make his final decision.
Interestingly, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com use the same terminology as Russini, noting that Schoen and Daboll are not a package deal and could be facing different fates in several weeks’ time. Like Russini, the NFL.com duo hears that Mara does not want to make a change, and that he believes his 2022 hirees remain highly capable.
While any GM or HC change qualifies as a watershed event in a club’s timeline, the Giants could soon be facing an especially critical moment. As a result of New York’s current 10-game losing streak, it is poised to secure the No. 1 overall selection of the 2025 draft and, by extension, a franchise signal-caller. Mara will have to determine, among other things, whether Schoen is the right person to make the pick and whether Daboll is the right person to develop whichever player is selected. Given how the last two campaigns have unfolded, those will not be easy questions to answer.
Should the Giants lose to the Colts today, they will have gone an entire season without a home victory for the first time since 1974 (h/t Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News). They are also on pace for their worst overall record since 1966, when they finished 1-12-1 (h/t Rapoport and Pelissero).
In a recent poll, the majority of PFR readership expected Mara to ultimately part ways with both Schoen and Daboll, while roughly 22% of voters expected both men to be retained. About 17% predicted Mara will keep Schoen and can Daboll, and a scenario wherein Schoen is fired but Daboll retained was viewed as the least likely.
Colts Plan To Have Anthony Richardson Serve As QB1 In 2025
A report from earlier this month suggested that the Indianapolis future of Colts’ second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson is uncertain and could be tied to the fate of the man who drafted him, general manager Chris Ballard. And, since the club is at risk of missing the playoffs for the sixth time in Ballard’s eight years as the front office boss, the GM’s job may not be safe.
However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that the Colts plan to move forward with Richardson as their starting signal-caller in 2025. The No. 4 overall pick of the 2023 draft was benched in favor of veteran Joe Flacco in Week 9, but Flacco did not play well in Week 9 or Week 10 (both losses), and Richardson was reinserted into the starting lineup in Week 11.
One of the reasons for Richardson’s demotion was his lack of adequate pre-game preparation, but the club is pleased with how the young passer responded to the benching and the improvements he has made to his preparation and attention to detail. Since his return, the Colts have posted a 3-2 record, and the Florida product has shown flashes during that stretch.
His accuracy is still cause for concern, as he has connected on just 47.7% of his pass attempts this season and has thrown eight TDs against 12 interceptions. He has not shown a marked improvement in that regard since he regained his starting job, as he has tossed four TDs against five interceptions and has completed 51.1% of his passes in the last five games.
Richardson’s health issues are also troubling. He played in just four games in his rookie campaign due to a sprained AC joint, and even before his benching this year, he missed two games due to an oblique injury. He will miss today’s critical matchup with the Giants as a result of foot and back issues.
That said, the current ailments are not considered long-term ones, per Rapoport, and since Richardson will not have to spend the upcoming offseason focusing on rehab as he did last offseason, the hope is that he will be able to further develop his fundamentals. Plus, despite his accuracy woes, the big-armed passer is still capable of making plays through the air and on the ground (he leads the league with 14.4 yards gained per pass completion and has rushed for nearly 500 yards and six scores while maintaining a 5.8 yards-per-carry average).
Rapoport suggests that head coach Shane Steichen and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter will be retained for 2025, noting that the two coaches and Richardson hope to find sustained success together next season. He does not, though, mention Ballard in his report, so it is theoretically still possible that owner Jim Irsay elects to move on from his top executive. In such a scenario, the new hire may feel differently about Richardson’s upside and could seek to go in a different direction under center.
Patriots To Be “Heavily Involved” In Tee Higgins Pursuit If Higgins Becomes FA
The Patriots have fallen short in several wide receiver pursuits this year, missing out on two players who were selected in the first round of this year’s draft – Xavier Worthy and Xavier Legette – and failing to complete a trade for 49ers wideout Brandon Aiyuk despite an aggressive pitch. Armed with a talented young QB in Drake Maye and a great deal of cap space, New England could certainly renew its efforts to land a top-flight pass catcher in 2025.
Enter the Bengals’ Tee Higgins, who is playing out the current season on the franchise tag and who has long been expected to hit the open market in March 2025. Indeed, Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal says the Pats will be “heavily involved” in the Higgins sweepstakes if the Clemson product should become available.
While many of the reasons underlying the expectation that Higgins will hit free agency are still present – including, for instance, the mega-deal that the Bengals are planning to authorize for fellow WR Ja’Marr Chase at some point – there have been several recent developments that could increase the odds that he will remain in Cincinnati. Quarterback Joe Burrow has expressed his confidence that the club will do what it can to keep its enviable 1-2 receiver tandem intact, and Higgins’ recent change in representation could also be viewed as a sign that he hopes to stay in the Queen City.
It will nonetheless be difficult for the Bengals to keep both Chase and Higgins in the fold, so there is still a good chance that Higgins will defect to another club in a few months’ time (assuming Cincinnati does not deploy a second franchise tag, which could be cost-prohibitive). With a league-leading ~$131MM in projected cap room, money would be no object for the Patriots.
As Giardi observes, however, Higgins may not want to take his talents to Foxborough. Although Maye has shown promise, he is far from a proven commodity at this point, and under the stewardship of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, the Patriots rank near the bottom of the league in terms of both total offense and points per game. The club added two receivers in this year’s draft in Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, but neither player has made an impact on a unit that generally lacks high-end talent.
More draft picks, a possible OC change, and more free agent dollars invested in the offense could of course lead to improved output, and Higgins would certainly be a key piece of such a turnaround. On the other hand, he should have a number of suitors, and it is fair to wonder if New England will represent his ideal landing spot, especially since he will presumably not have a player of Chase’s caliber to draw the attention of opposing defenses.
Following a dominant performance in a must-win game against the Broncos last night, Higgins has posted career-highs in terms of yards per game (78.0) and touchdowns (10). Despite missing five games due to injury in 2024, he is also approaching career-best marks in targets and receptions.
Browns LG Joel Bitonio Undecided On Continuing Playing Career, Will Not Seek Trade Or Release
Browns star edge defender Myles Garrett said he will consider a trade request if, after speaking with Cleveland brass this offseason, it becomes apparent that the club is contemplating a rebuild. We subsequently heard that, since the Browns are not considering a rebuild and are eyeing a return to contention in 2025, the team is not overly concerned about Garrett’s comments.
Still, it is noteworthy that the Browns’ season has gone so poorly and created so much uncertainty that their best player – who is under contract through 2026 and who could land another lucrative extension this offseason – wants to hear about their future plans before making decisions about his own future. Likewise, the longest-tenured member of the Browns, left guard Joel Bitonio, would like to know where the team is headed before deciding whether to return for the final year of his own contract in 2025.
“It’s hard to go out there and have three wins right now,” Bitonio said (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). “That’s been tough. It’s tough on your body. You just don’t feel as good on Monday when you lose a game. So it’s part of the process and you’d love to hear what the plan is going forward and kind of see where we’re at, see how much winning you can do.”
Bitonio, 33, was selected by the Browns in the second round of the 2014 draft, and aside from being a bastion of durability for most of his career, he has also been one of the league’s best interior blockers. From 2018-2023, he rattled off six consecutive Pro Bowl nods, a stretch that included First Team All-Pro acclaim in 2021 and 2022. Per Pro Football Focus’ metrics, however, his play has regressed a bit in 2024, as his 63.1 overall grade ranks 41st out of 74 qualified players and would represent the lowest mark of his career.
Given how good he has been throughout his lengthy Cleveland tenure, the Browns would surely love to have him back just the same, particularly since he is due just a $1.26MM base salary and $3MM roster bonus in 2025. But Bitonio has not yet made a decision one way or another.
“We’ll see how we’re doing in a couple weeks after the season,” he said. “It’s very hard to make a decision when you’re in the middle of it, you’re going through the daily grind. So I’m going to finish the year as strong as I can and see how we feel in a couple weeks and go from there.”
While Bitonio would like to know the team’s 2025 plans, both at quarterback and in general, Tony Grossi of TheLandOnDemand.com interpreted Bitonio’s comments to mean that the decorated lineman’s decision as to whether he will retire or return to play out the last year of his contract will mostly be dictated by his health.
“Truthfully, it’s mostly personal, just how my body feels going into another season,” Bitonio said, underscoring Grossi’s point. “The game, it’s an amazing game, blessed to play it, but it’s a stressful game, you put a lot on your body, how are you going to feel in 10 years or 15 years or 20 years?”
Whether or not he hangs up the cleats after the current season, Bitonio will not request a trade or release and will finish his career as a member of the Browns.
“For me personally, I don’t know what they’re thinking [with respect to quarterback plans], but I’m going to be a Cleveland Brown, I think, for my career,” he said. “So if I come back, whatever decision they make at quarterback is what decision they make. I’m not as young as Myles where you have some options other places. So for me it’s more going to be like how I feel personally, how my family feels and all that stuff.”
Vikings Hope To Retain Sam Darnold; Browns Interested In QB?
Recent reporting on Sam Darnold’s future with the Vikings suggested that the team has resigned itself to the fact that Darnold’s play in 2024 has priced him out of Minnesota, and that the club has not engaged in extension talks with the resurgent quarterback. However, the Vikes may not be willing to give up on a Darnold return just yet.
Per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Minnesota indeed hopes that it will be able to retain Darnold, who has piloted the Vikings to a 12-2 record and a shot at the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Jones’ sources confirm prior reports that the 27-year-old passer has set himself up for a contract that would pay him at least $25MM per season, which is of course a considerable raise on the one-year, $10MM deal he signed with the Vikings this year.
That said, Minnesota is projected to have upwards of $70MM in cap space in 2025, so a “middle-class” QB deal would be feasible. It may even be a bargain if Darnold, under the tutelage of head coach Kevin O’Connell, has truly blossomed into the player the Jets believed he would be when they made him the No. 3 overall pick of the 2018 draft.
Darnold’s 104.9 QB rating is the fourth-highest mark in the league, he has led four game-winning drives, and the Vikings are eighth in the league in scoring as of the time of this writing. That performance, combined with Minnesota’s win-loss record, make it no surprise that the team wants him back.
Of course, the Vikes signed Darnold this offseason with the intention of making him a bridge passer, not a long-term fixture under center. As such, the team selected J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick of this year’s draft, and McCarthy was the player deemed to be the quarterback of the future.
According to Jones, that has not changed. The Vikings’ level of faith in McCarthy is as high as it was when he was drafted, and the season-ending knee injury he suffered in August has not altered the club’s view of his career trajectory. However, Darnold’s efforts this season cannot be ignored, and one AFC executive told Jones that McCarthy could become Minnesota’s version of Green Bay’s Jordan Love (a first-round pick who sat behind Aaron Rodgers for several seasons before finally getting a chance to run the show).
Since Darnold’s combination of youth and ability could make him the most desirable QB in this year’s free agent class, it is still possible that his asking price goes beyond the Vikings’ comfort level. But his 2024 showing has afforded him the ability to be selective about his future home, and Jones says the USC product will naturally exercise caution to avoid undesirable situations, like those he found himself in as a member of the Jets and Panthers. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com says the Browns would have interest if Darnold hits the open market, though it is unclear whether Cleveland — despite the presumptive presence of a well-respected offensive mind in HC Kevin Stefanski — would qualify as a desirable situation.
Obviously, Minnesota has proven to be a perfect fit, and if the Vikings are willing to spend, it appears that the door to a multiyear pact between Darnold and the club remains open.
Lions OC Ben Johnson “Intrigued” By Bears’ HC Post
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has rebuffed the opportunity to be a head coach in each of the last two hiring cycles, and he has done nothing to hurt his stock in 2024. He is again expected to be one of the hottest HC candidates in the upcoming cycle, though he will remain highly selective about his destination.
Given the Bears’ abundance of salary cap space, skill position talent, and the presence of talented rookie-contract QB Caleb Williams, it is easy to see why they believe their HC post is the most desirable among those that are expected to be available in 2025. Bill Belichick, before he made the surprising decision to join the college ranks, reportedly shared that view.
The attractiveness of the job in a vacuum is one thing, but a November report suggested that Johnson may steer clear of the Bears due to perceived organizational dysfunction. However, subsequent reports noted that Johnson may indeed consider the Chicago gig, and today, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network said that the 38-year-old offensive guru is “intrigued” by the position and is willing to listen to the Bears’ pitch (video link). As we had previously heard that Johnson is not going to interview simply for the sake of interviewing, any summit he conducts with Bears brass would seemingly indicate that he is prepared to accept the job if offered.
While the Bears have been said to be prioritizing a “leader of men” type of head coach over a candidate with a specific background, Johnson’s reputation as an offensive mastermind is not only in keeping with the trend in today’s HC searches, but it would be especially beneficial to a team looking to unlock the potential of a blue chip prospect like Williams.
And, despite turning down what was generally regarded as a similarly appealing post with the Commanders in the 2024 hiring period, Johnson reiterated that he wants to take a team’s top job at some point.
“I think there’s a burning desire in every man to find what he’s made out of and push the limits and see if he’s got what it takes,” Johnson said (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). “And so yeah, there’s a fire there. Now, when that time is? I don’t know, when that’ll be, but there’s certainly a fire there.”
When asked specifically about Williams, Johnson was complimentary but conceded that he had not really studied the rookie’s tape.
“Listen, it’s been difficult to sit down and just study every throw but plenty of crossover tape over the course of the year and there’s no question this guy’s talented,” Johnson said. “I remember standing on the sideline last game and just you can hear the ball whistle by you. He’s got quite a fastball and has some creativity to him, can extend plays and is accurate down the field as well. Like I said, I haven’t really dove in and can tell you much more beyond that, but he’s been impressive from afar.”
Whether Johnson finally decides to move on from Detroit will be perhaps the top question when it comes to the 2025 HC carousel. If he does, it sounds as if the Bears will be firmly in the mix.
Interestingly, Johnson – a UNC alum – was not contacted by the school to discuss its head coaching vacancy, as Birkett notes in a separate piece. Of course, that job went to Belichick, who will continue his legendary career as the Tar Heels’ skipper.
Falcons Believed Michael Penix Jr. Could Start In Week 1; Kirk Cousins To Ponder Retirement?
Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. will make the first start of his professional career today following Atlanta’s momentous (but obvious) decision to bench veteran Kirk Cousins in favor of the rookie passer. While Cousins — who had signed a four-year, $180MM deal this offseason to help lead the club on a championship run — was obviously given a long leash, the Falcons believed Penix was ready to take the reins from the jump.
As SI.com’s Albert Breer said during an interview on last week’s TNF Tonight program, Atlanta would have been comfortable starting Penix in Week 1 if necessary (video link). The Washington standout played collegiately for six years, and even when Cousins was at the top of the depth chart, Penix was getting about 10 first-team reps per week while seeing plenty of action with the scout team.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds further context, writing that Penix had the same listening device in his helmet as Cousins during practice and would watch film of what Cousins did and then go through it mentally himself before running the same plays with the club’s young receivers. Rapoport also noted that, each practice, there was a competitive period in which Penix would have the opportunity to run the Falcons’ plays instead of scout-team plays. Those opportunities could be the same first-team reps that Breer referenced, but in any event, Atlanta has long believed that Penix is physically and mentally prepared to assume QB1 duties.
Of course, his arm strength and running ability should also open up the playbook. Breer observes that Cousins hurt his shoulder and elbow during a Week 10 loss to the Saints, and that the veteran signal-caller had not been the same since. Indeed, prior to that New Orleans contest, Cousins was coming off a two-game stretch in which he threw for seven TDs and no interceptions while posting QB ratings of 145.9 and 144.8. But in the next five games, he threw just one touchdown against nine interceptions, and his physical ailments limited the Falcons from a play-calling standpoint.
There will be no such limitation with Penix at the controls, and the expectation is that Cousins will be released in the offseason. Rapoport acknowledges that a release is generally viewed as the most likely outcome, but he does leave open the possibility that the Falcons could retain Cousins as a high-end backup/insurance policy since they are obligated to pay his fully-guaranteed $27.5MM 2025 salary anyway (and since Penix will still be on his affordable rookie deal).
The bigger issue, at least from a financial perspective, would be the $10MM roster bonus for 2026 that locks in if Cousins is still on the roster on the fifth day of the 2025 league year in March. Still, a Cousins return remains on the table and is more plausible than a trade. The four-time Pro Bowler has a full no-trade clause, and since he is much more valuable to another team as a free agent who could be had for a veteran minimum deal than a trade candidate, he is not expected to waive the NTC (his situation is similar to Russell Wilson’s, who was able to sign with the Steelers for the veteran minimum following his Broncos release this offseason since Denver was on the hook for his 2024 pay).
Cousins may, however, contemplate retirement. He will turn 37 before the 2025 season begins, and Rapoport says Cousins is expected to take a month or so after the current campaign is over to consider his playing future. He would be walking away from a large sum of money if he were to call it a career, but the master of negotiation has already earned just shy of $300MM from his NFL contracts.
U.S. Senate Unanimously Approves RFK Stadium Bill
In the second year of the Josh Harris ownership regime, the Commanders have seemingly found their franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels and have an excellent chance to qualify for the postseason in Daniels’ rookie year. The club also scored a big win on the stadium front.
In Saturday’s early morning hours, the United States Senate unanimously approved the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act. The legislation, which had already been approved by the House of Representatives, will become law once it is signed by President Joe Biden.
At that point, Washington, D.C. will have control of the 170-acre site upon which RFK Stadium – the longtime home of the Commanders, then known as the Redskins – sits. In turn, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser will have the opportunity to negotiate a stadium deal with the Commanders. Per Sam Fortier of the Washington Post, Bowser has made redevelopment of the area one of her top agenda items, and she wants the return of the Commanders to the nation’s capital to be part of her legacy.
The franchise played its home games at RFK from 1961-1996, during which time it won all five of its conference championships and all three of its Super Bowls. Most of the club’s stay at its current home, Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, overlapped with the generally disastrous ownership tenure of Dan Snyder.
Prior to the new legislation, the National Park Service’s lease with D.C., which was due to end in 2038, restricted use of the RFK site. Now, however, the District will have control of the site for 99 years and will be able to develop it in a mixed-use capacity, which includes the construction of a new stadium.
Although the bill itself does not contemplate the use of taxpayer dollars, it is eminently possible that a new stadium will indeed involve public funds, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggests. And while Commanders executives have called RFK the “spiritual home” of the team, and while Harris himself has acknowledged the nostalgic desire to have his club return there, any deal that Bowser and the team strike would have to be approved by the D.C. Council, which is split on the issue of whether to use tax money for a stadium.
Meanwhile, Maryland Governor Wes Moore has reiterated his desire to have the Commanders stay where they are, albeit with a new stadium. In theory, Virginia looms as a potential destination, though Fortier notes that the Commonwealth has neither a definite site for a stadium nor a mechanism to obtain public funds for such a project.
Harris has previously noted that D.C. would be the ideal location for the Commanders because it would be the most widely accepted site among the team’s DMV fanbase. In the wake of yesterday’s Senate approval, Harris issued a statement on the matter, which can be found here.
Harris would like for the team to be playing in its new stadium, wherever it might be, by 2030.
Davante Adams, Garrett Wilson On Future With Jets
The Jets were officially eliminated from playoff contention by virtue of today’s loss to the Dolphins. Of course, the 3-10 club – which came into the season with championship aspirations – has not looked like a viable contender at any point during the campaign, and it will go into the offseason at yet another organizational crossroads.
Gang Green will need to hire a new head coach and general manager and will need to make a final decision on the future of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. There are also plenty of high-profile, non-QB talents to monitor, including the top two wideouts on the team’s depth chart.
Davante Adams’ dissatisfaction with the Raiders’ quarterback situation led him to engineer a midseason trade to the Jets in the hopes that a reunion with Rodgers would help both players recapture some of the form they displayed as longtime teammates in Green Bay. In the immediate aftermath of the trade, Adams expressed his desire to remain with the Jets beyond 2024, though he has naturally become more non-committal in the waning days of another lost season.
When asked this week about his future with the club, Adams said, “[that’s] a great question, and I truly don’t have the answer to it right now” (via ESPN’s Rich Cimini).
Adams further indicated that his contract situation and Rodgers’ status would be factors in his New York future.
“I would love to be a part of this football team,” he said (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). “… I’d love to go to war with these guys, but it’s a business and there are a lot of pieces, contractually, and, obviously, with Aaron’s future — a lot of things that I can’t control. Hopefully, we do enough to where everybody’s feeling like it’s the right thing to do for us to stay here.”
Cimini, echoing recent reports, says that Rodgers is unlikely to be back with the team in 2025, which would encourage Adams to cut ties. Adams is still under club control through 2026 thanks to the Raiders-constructed deal that the Jets took on when they acquired him, but as Rapoport observes, the three-time First Team All-Pro controls his own destiny.
New York restructured Adams’ 2024 salary while leaving his 2025 and 2026 figures untouched, meaning that Adams is due base salaries of $35.6MM over each of the next two years. However, no portion of those salaries is guaranteed, and all parties know that the Jets will not retain Adams at those price points. Another restructure would therefore be necessary to keep the soon-to-be 32-year-old on the roster, but if Adams wants to leave, he can simply decline such a restructure – if the Jets even approach him about one – and effectively force his release.
Per Cimini, there has been no indication that Adams’ younger running mate, Garrett Wilson, is planning his own exit strategy by requesting a trade. The 2022 draftee is eligible for an extension at the end of the 2024 season, and though he continues to be one of Rodgers’ top targets, his production has declined in recent weeks. Unlike Adams, however, Wilson says his tenure with the Jets will be unaffected by Rodgers’ fate.
“No impact. No impact,” Wilson said. “I’ve been here with Aaron, and I’ve been here without him. No impact.”
The Jets rebuffed trade interest in Wilson at this year’s deadline, and the immensely talented 24-year-old is clearly a foundational piece upon which New York can rebuild. Wilson’s trade suitors were reportedly willing to offer him a new contract this offseason, and while the Jets could do the same, they can also control him at team-friendly rates through 2026 and franchise tag him in 2027. Speculatively, Wilson’s thoughts about requesting a trade could change if it becomes clear that his current employer is not interested in immediate extension negotiations.
For now, he is clearly suggesting that he will be back next year.
“[Whichever quarterback] they send me out there with (in 2025), I’m going to put my best foot forward and try to show that I belong, that I’m one of the guys in this league that’s a great player,” Wilson said. “So I just have to figure out a way to prove that. I thought it would be easier this year. It hasn’t been.”