Jets safety Jamal Adams got his wish: Tom Brady is out of the AFC East

One of Jamal Adams’ offseason wishes came true. The same probably can be said for the Jets organization and their fans.

No, the Jets didn’t get that dominant edge rusher they have needed for years. Their sense of relief comes from addition by subtraction.

Tom Brady has left the New England Patriots and is leaving the AFC East, just as Adams publicly requested right around the Super Bowl. The Jets Pro Bowl safety was joking – to a certain extent.

Brady had tweeted a picture of himself walking through the tunnel at Gillette Stadium. Adams wasted little time in responding to the tweet that had everyone speculating about Brady’s future.

Adams tweeted “Please leave the AFC East,” and added four crying-laughing emojis.

Turns out, Brady’s tweet was a tease for a Hulu ad that aired on the Super Bowl and ended with him saying, “I’m not going anywhere.” But Brady has dominated the Jets over the years, and beat them all six games that Adams has played against the Patriots. Adams always gave Brady his respect, but you can’t blame him or anyone else associated with the Jets with wishing he would go far, far away.

Wish granted.

Brady is not only out of the AFC East, he's out of the conference. Brady is signing with Tampa to play for Bruce Arians and against former Jets coach Todd Bowles’ defense every day, whenever teams are allowed to report and line up against each other.

When Brady said goodbye Tuesday to the Patriots and their fans on Twitter and Instagram, it effectively ended their dynasty and opened the door for the Jets and the rest of the AFC East to finally surpass New England.

The Jets had a big part in creating that dynasty. It was linebacker Mo Lewis’ hit on Drew Bledsoe in September 2001 that made Brady the Patriots starting quarterback. The Jets won that game, but the Patriots with Brady and coach Bill Belichick ruled the AFC East, if not the NFL.

The Patriots won the AFC East 17 times, including the last 11 years. Brady led them to nine Super Bowl appearances and six titles. The Patriots made the playoffs 17 times, and have had a winning record all 19 seasons since Brady became the starting quarterback.He’s 29-7 all-time against the Jets with 57 touchdown passes thrown.

During the same stretch, the Jets have won the division once, made the playoffs six times, finished above. 500 eight times and haven’t reached a Super Bowl. The Jets had that one big victory in New England under Rex Ryan in January 2011 to advance to the AFC title game. But that was the Jets’ last playoff appearance.

It may be a little premature to predict New England’s demise and the Jets’ rise. The Patriots lost who many consider the greatest quarterback of all time, but they still have whom many consider the greatest coach of all time in Belichick.

Sure, they will be different, less dominant as they go through this transition. The rest of the AFC East has to take advantage of that. The Dolphins and Bills certainly are. The Jets, and first-time general manager Joe Douglas, seem to be taking a much slower approach.

Douglas and the Jets still have plenty of work to do before they’re a playoff team – even with the NFL expanding the postseason to seven teams this year.

The Bills, who went 10-6 and were a playoff team last year, made a big splash this week. They traded for wide receiver Stefon Diggs, a major weapon for their third-year quarterback Josh Allen.

The Dolphins have improved in free agency, with the additions of cornerback Byron Jones, former Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy, edge rusher Shaq Lawson, defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and running back Jordan Howard.

The Jets first’ three moves in free agency was rebuilding the offensive line. Douglas reached deals with Connor McGovern, Alex Lewis and George Fant to help make sure Sam Darnold is protected.

Now that Brady is gone, Darnold may be the best quarterback in the AFC East. Brady leaving opens up everything for the Jets and the rest of the division.