Seahawks: How much did Jamal Adams trade actually set Seattle back?

Before the 2020 season, the Seattle Seahawks traded multiple draft picks to the Jets in exchange for Jamal Adams. They may not have been a good idea as it turns out.

Let me preface what I am about to write by saying I don’t blame a lot of what Jamal Adams has done in 2021 on Jamal Adams himself. No, he can’t catch and he should have had at least three more interceptions than he currently has. Balls have hit him right in the face or hands or chest (or all three) and he dropped the intended pass.

What I do think most of Jamal Adams’ issue has been this season is the design of the defense and the amazingly bad design by defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr. on exactly what to do with Adams.

Adams is a unique talent and needs to be used, well…uniquely. If Seattle had a DC like Gus Bradley, for instance – fingers crossed, next year they will have Bradley back! – Adams would likely be a lot more productive than he has been.

How the Seahawks trade for Jamal Adams looks now

But since the Seahawks gave up two first-round picks and a third-round choice along with safety Bradley McDougald in return for Adams and a 2022 fourth-round pick, we must ask ourselves, “Exactly what was Seattle’s plan in getting Adams?”

Seattle isn’t good in 2021. They don’t appear to have a real chance of being better in 2022. But Adams will still be on the team. The Seahawks gave Adams an extension this offseason that keeps him in Seattle through 2025 and his cap hit gets huge in 2024 and 2025. Adams, though, has been misused by Seattle this year and basically told to do things a normal strong safety does. But Adams isn’t a normal strong safety.

Adams for his part has not complained about how he is used and appears to be a good guy in the Seahawks locker room. It would be easy for a player of Adams’ magnitude to voice his concerns, a bit like Richard Sherman did in Seattle.

And speaking sarcastically, Seattle might as well have traded those first-round choices for Adams because Seattle would likely have found a way to waste them if they had kept them. L.J. Collier and Rashaad Penny, anyone? In fact, Seattle probably would have made a better pick with the third-round pick they traded to the Jets (Russell Wilson was a third-round pick).

So was trading for Jamal Adams and giving up all those picks a bad deal? Let’s just say the answer is still not known. Seattle stinks at first-round picks, Adams is used poorly in a terrible scheme. Adams is still young enough to make a great impact for several years with the Seahawks. That is, once Seattle fires Ken Norton, Jr. and hires a better coach in his place.