Sorry, Jets fans, the Seahawks won the Jamal Adams trade

The Seahawks were roundly blistered for the trade that brought Jamal Adams to Seattle. To be fair, we need to wait until everyone’s career is over, but for now, I’d say Seattle won.

Since the moment the Seahawks inked the deal that brought Jamal Adams to the Emerald City, there has been no shortage of second-guessing the deal. Various pundits have said that the Hawks gave up too much. Others complained that Adams isn’t as good as he was expected to be. Both views are completely wrong.

To recap, the Seahawks sent Bradley McDougald, the ‘Hawks first and third-round picks in 2021, and this year’s first-rounder to the Jets. In exchange, Seattle got Adams and a 2022 fourth-round pick from New York. Yes, that’s a lot on the left side of the ledger.

I loved what McDougald brought to the Hawks, but he wasn’t a three-time Pro Bowler, either. McDougald only got into seven games with the Jets and managed just three games last year between the Jaguars and the Titans. That fits the classic definition of selling high.

Seahawks winning the Jamal Adams trade

Let’s look at what the Jets did with those draft picks they got from the Seahawks. In 2021, New York traded the first and third-round picks to move up to 14 and took guard Alijah Vera-Tucker. He had a fine rookie season, as he allowed just two sacks and was named to the PFWA All-Rookie team. There’s also the facc he ranked 60th in pressures allowed among all guards. Just for reference, the ‘Hawks Damien Lewis ranked 37th.

The Jets used the 2022 first-round pick on Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson. No doubt about it, Wilson looks like an absolute stud. He’s been favorably compared to receivers like Davante Adams, and frankly, that comparison seems solid to me. Of course, you have to actually perform in the league, so we’ll see what happens.

The Seahawks used that Jets fourth-round pick to get perhaps the best steal of the draft, cornerback Coby Bryant. Playing alongside the ridiculously talented Sauce Gardner for the Bearcats, it was Bryant who won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back. Just as with Wilson, we’ll see how his potential pans out in games, but the future looks awfully bright in Seattle.

Don’t worry, 12s, I haven’t forgotten about the central figure of the trade. You didn’t hear a lot of complaints about Jamal Adams when he set an all-time NFL record for sacks by a safety in his first year in Seattle. His production dropped off drastically last season, but there were two major factors for this, both completely out of his control. He missed the last five games with a shoulder injury.

Even worse, the Seahawks former DC Ken Norton Jr. apparently decided he didn’t like all those sacks coming from the safety spot. Adams blitz rate dropped from 13 percent in 2021 to just 5 percent last year. While he isn’t the greatest safety when it comes to pass coverage, he’s hardly abysmal.

According to Pro Football Focus, quarterbacks targeting Adams in coverage only managed a 69.9 passer rating. His production dropped in 2022 because Ken Norton Jr. was a poor DC. We know who’s still with the team.

Adams will definitely bounce back to his Pro Bowl level this season. I’d bet your house on it, in fact. Assuming you don’t have a crippling mortgage to pay off, that is. The Hawks strong safety won’t turn 27 until nearly mid-season and has years of great football left. As for the draftees, the jury is still out on Vera-Tucker. Will he be good, or great? Wilson and Bryant could be All-Pros for years, or could wash out. It’s simply too soon to tell. The one thing we do know is that Jamal Adams is an established beast, and he’s locked in for the Seahawks for the next four seasons.