In a recent column posted on Wednesday, November 13, ESPN’s Rich Cimini reported that the New York Jets are benching starting safety Tony Adams.
“[Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich] also made a change in the defensive lineup, benching safety Tony Adams this week, a source said. It’s a surprising move, considering Adams — a two-year starter — is the Jets’ third-leading tackler,” Cimini wrote.
A Tough Turn for the Jets’ Defense
Adams’ journey with the Jets began as an undrafted free agent. After not hearing his name called in the 2022 NFL Draft, he signed with the team and quickly impressed coaches, earning a spot on the 53-man roster.
Former head coach Robert Saleh was vocal about his admiration for Adams following the final roster cuts. “Big credit to TA. Undrafted [and] just did a really good job every single day trying to find ways to get better and better. He has a bright future ahead of him. We would have been sick if we lost him,” Saleh said back in August 2022.
Had the Jets cut Adams, he would have been placed on waivers, making him available to other NFL teams. Fearing they might lose him, the Jets kept him on the active roster. As a rookie, he appeared in 11 games, with one start in a reserve role.
A year later, Saleh praised Adams during training camp, emphasizing his impressive rise. “I guess the cat is coming out of the bag a little bit,” Saleh said in July 2023. “An undrafted free agent that unseated a bunch of guys we all thought were going to make the team. He made it impossible for us to cut him.”
In 2023, Adams started 15 games, and this season, he started all eight games he was healthy for. Now, however, he’s headed to the bench.
The decision to bench Adams is surprising, given the admiration he’s garnered within the organization. As an undrafted player, he secured his place on the roster and was later treated like a veteran with a guaranteed spot.
Although Cimini didn’t specify a reason for Adams’ benching, the signs are there. The Jets suffered a major loss to the Cardinals in Week 10, and missed tackles were a glaring issue. The team totaled 20 missed tackles in that game, the highest for any team in a single NFL game this season.
In his column, Cimini mentioned the Jets’ tackling issues just before revealing Adams’ benching. “[Coach] Ulbrich is taking a back-to-basics approach this week, calling for full-pads practices to improve the Jets’ shoddy tackling. They missed 20 tackles against the Cardinals, according to Next Gen Stats. He conducted a tackling presentation for the entire team on Wednesday, not just the defense,” Cimini noted.
This benching also comes at a critical time for Adams, who will be a restricted free agent next offseason. The Jets will need to decide if they want to tender Adams, and if so, at what level: first round ($7.27 million), second round ($5.21 million), or right of first refusal ($3.81 million), according to projections from Over The Cap for 2025.
