AFC Notes: Davante Adams, Aaron Rodgers, Garrett Wilson, Jets, Patriots

Jets

Jets WR Garrett Wilson said that the future of QB Aaron Rodgers in New York will not determine if he stays with the team, he still has a fifth-year option and will be eligible for a new contract in 2025.

“No impact. No impact,” Wilson told ESPN’s Rich Cimini when asked about Rodgers. “I’ve been here with Aaron, and I’ve been here without him. No impact. Whoever they send me out there with, 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. So I just have to figure out a way to prove that. I thought it would be easier this year. It hasn’t been.”

Wilson also commented on the fourth-quarter leads that have been blown by the Jets.

“When you’re up in the fourth quarter all of a sudden it starts to feel like we have a losing problem, like a gene or some shit,” Wilson told Zack Rosenblatt. “It’s not like we’re going out there and getting our butt beat from start to finish. No, we have a chance to win the game, we’re supposed to win the game, odds are in our favor and we find a way to lose. So it’s just frustrating for sure.”

Jets

Jets WR Davante Adams said he would love to remain in New York beyond this season while acknowledging that it likely won’t be on his current contract, which the team is looking to redo in order to get away from his $38 million cap hit.

“That’s a great question and I truly don’t have the answer to it right now. I would love to be a part of this football team,” Adams said, via PFT. “I love these guys. I came in on day one, I was welcomed. It’s a business and there’s a lot of pieces contractually. Obviously with Aaron’s future and a lot of things I can’t control. Just gonna finish this year off strong. Hopefully, we do enough to where everybody’s feeling like it’s the right thing to do for us to stay here. After this year, we’ll assess and figure it out.”

Patriots

NFL commentator and former Patriots S Rodney Harrison fields many questions about the state of the franchise for New England. He says that he has been encouraged by some of the things that rookies HC Jerod Mayo and QB Drake Maye have been able to show in their first season working together while in need of more talent.

“I get reminded every week I go to stadiums. Coming from the fans’ perspective, they laugh. ‘Hey what about your Patriots?’ It hurts,” Harrison said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “You go from being looked at as so well-respected, and being such a dominating force, to all of a sudden people are joking about your team being at the bottom. The first thing is that I’ve seen some things from Drake Maye that have surprised me. He’s better than I anticipated. I like the kid’s personality. I like his demeanor. He has this quiet competitiveness about him. He’s a lot better athlete than I thought. The main thing I see is they don’t have enough talent around him. They have to work on building that offensive line, and you have to get a No. 1 receiver. The tight end situation is solid. I would bring in another running back. And quite frankly, I would look at some of the contracts on the defensive side of the ball and say, ‘Hey, do we need this guy making ‘X’ amount of dollars or do we need to reallocate those resources to the offensive line?'”

Aside from questioning the team bringing in or moving on from certain talent, Harrison gave his opinion on what the team could do with their $130 million in cap space instead of relying on their past successes.

“They’re just not a supremely talented team. So I think Jerod has done a solid job in his first year and he has to continue to grow — asking questions, seeking wise counsel from other coaches, and going back and looking at different situations they were in as a team and review those things. He has to put that work in, which he did as a player, so I do believe that he is going to get better. But they have to get talent and that’s on Eliot. What you might have to do because the Patriots have a reputation, is overpay initially,” Harrison continued. “Guys aren’t going to come to New England because Belichick is there or because they believe they’re going to be on a good team. They’re coming to New England because they’re getting paid. So right now what you have to do is rebuild trust in your organization and you have to let players know outside of the building: ‘Hey, we’re not cheapskates. We’re going to pay guys. We’re going to get football players in here.’ Your reputation and what you did in the past — nobody is coming here because of that.”