Is Dallas beating the Philadelphia Eagles in the Jamal Adams sweepstakes?
The easiest route to playoffs in the NFL is winning the division. Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys fans know that all too well. If it seems like the NFC East has come down to these two proud franchises in each of the last three seasons, it’s because it has.
Since 2016, the “Birds” and “The Boys” have alternated division titles. Dallas posted a 13-3 mark in 2016 while Philadelphia finished in the cellar, but since then they’ve been the top two franchises in the final rankings.
Where it gets weird is here. Philly has finished each of the past two seasons with identical 9-7 records. Last season, that was good enough for the NFC East crown. In 2018, that same win-loss total catapulted the “Birds” into the NFC Playoffs as a Wildcard Team. What doesn’t get mentioned that often is the fact that, in 2015, the Washington Redskins won the NFC East with a 9-7 record.
If, when Week 16 of the 2020 season rolls around, both Dallas and Philly are hovering at around .500 or at a game above, no one will be surprised. This is why people jokingly call this division the “NFC Least”. This is why these teams build their rosters to beat one another. This is why Dallas drafts CeeDee Lamb, because they don’t want the “Birds” to get him.
Enter Jamal Adams. This constant power struggle for NFC East superiority is why, whether you want to hear it or not, the narrative of him possibly joining the Eagles or the Cowboys is so popular. He’d immediately shift this division’s balance of power, but that’s obvious. The real question is who has the advantage between Philly and Dallas?
Philadelphia Eagles fans aren’t going to want to hear this.
Do the Cowboys have an advantage on the Eagles in what’s being treated like the Jamal Adams sweepstakes? Less than a week ago, ESPN’s Adam Schefter dropped a list of seven teams the star safety said he’d be interested in playing for after he requested to be traded from the New York Jets.
Outside of the Cowboys and Eagles, the list looks like this: the Seattle Seahawks, the Baltimore Ravens, the San Francisco 49ers, the Houston Texans, and the Kansas City Chiefs. Recently, a Cowboys fan spotted him and the following was the result.
@dallascowboys I got proof that Jamal Adams wants to come to Dallas pic.twitter.com/g398Wmqsft
— Jakson 🇸🇻 (@JaksonVelasquez) June 22, 2020
“You coming to Dallas”? “I’m trying bro”. Now, there are two ways that this can be seen. One way is the following. The Cowboys are indeed Adams’ destination of choice. He is, after all, from Carrollton, Texas. He probably grew up as a Dallas fan.
The other way you can spin this is by looking at it the following way. What was he supposed to say? Two guys are yelling out of their windows as one is driving off. He’s not going to say “Yeah. I like Dallas, but I really like the ‘Hawks and the Eagles too”. To be frank, even after seeing this, none of us know any more about what Adams’ intentions are than what we knew two days ago. His services will be won by the team that puts the best trade package together for the Jets. He isn’t a free agent. Period. If you’re a “Birds” fan, you have to hope that’s the Eagles.