Pressure on to justify Adams trade

There’s no easy way to excuse what coach Pete Carroll, general manager John Schneider and the Seattle Seahawks did when trading two first-round picks for safety Jamal Adams.

There is precedent for such a blockbuster. In 2018, the Oakland Raiders nabbed Khalil Mack after sending two first-round picks to the Chicago Bears. The Houston Texans traded two firstround picks for tackle Laremy Tunsil in 2019 after struggling to fill the position and, in turn, stunting Deshaun Watson’s development.

Last October, the Los Angeles Rams gave up a pair of first-rounders for cornerback Jalen Ramsey - who seemed, at least to GM Les Snead, to be the only thing separating L.A. from playoff relevance. But these are premium positions: edge, left tackle and cornerback. Safety seems to be one of the NFL’S least valued positions, which might be why the New York Jets had a hard time finding a trade partner who met their asking price.

Here’s what each team received in the deal:

Jets get:

2021 1st round pick

2022 1st round pick

2021 3rd round pick

S Bradley Mcdougald

Seahawks get:

Jamal Adams

2022 4th round pick

So, yes, the Seahawks overpaid.

Diminishing value of a safety

When looking at the safety market in respect to its diminishing value, it’s easy to reference the 2019 free agency class, which featured so many standouts (Landon Collins, Earl Thomas, Tyrann Mathieu, Lamarcus Joyner and Adrian Amos, among others) that the middle-tier free agents were forced to wait forever for a deal, in part because there was so much talent and in part because the NFL has come to value this position (much like running back) to a lesser degree.

This offseason, Malcolm Jenkins received the biggest deal at his position with a four-year and $32 million contract. It was another signal of the NFL devaluing the safety position, albeit in an offseason without much talent at the position on the market.

When running back value was hitting an all time low in 2018, Carroll and the

Seahawks drafted running back Rashad Penny in the first round. So it seems fitting that at a time when the safety market hit a similar low, Seattle went after a safety. This might seems like a moment when Carroll is zigging while the NFL is zagging. (At least, that’s what we’d say if Bill Belichick was making this move. He, like Carroll, drafted a running back in the first round in 2018.)

But Carroll’s history of inflexibility is troubling. His antiquated methodology on offense (running the ball too often with perennial MVP candidate Russell Wilson on the offense) seems to be holding back the Seahawks. On defense, it’s more complicated, with some evolution since the Legion of Boom era - but perhaps not enough.

Adams more than a safety?

Let’s explore the possibility that Carroll is onto something.

After all, coverage is coming to be the most important element of a defense. So by that logic, the Seahawks might be buying Adams, a safety, at a low point to help with a facet of the game that arguably has never been more important.

But there’s a problem with that argument, too. Adams isn’t the single-high safety that helped make the Legion of Boom special. Adams isn’t Earl Thomas. In fact, Adams spent so much time in the box that he registered as a linebacker and a defensive lineman more times than a safety since entering the NFL, per ESPN Stats and Info.

As ESPN’S Bill Barnwell points out, Adams’ gifts include rushing the passer, a duty which yielded 12 career sacks and 23 career knockdowns, the most from any defensive back since he entered the league. Adams is special - but not in the ways that makes it easy to justify the Seahawks acting like he’s a premium player.

Even so, the statistic about his versatility (in the tweet above) echoes of Mathieu, who played all over the Kansas City Chiefs defense and was pivotal in stopping the San Francisco 49ers in the the Super Bowl. And that’s the one sliver of light for the Seahawks. Seattle can justify the deal if they can use Adams in a way that’s versatile enough to change our understanding of his position (thereby making him a positionless player). That’s a tall task.

Carroll, the king of secondary coaching, is probably up for it. But the move is so aggressive that, even with Adams’ skills and even with Carroll’s history of success, the Seahawks probably won’t win this trade.

Jamal Adams, seen in 2019, was acquired by the Seahawks on Saturday in a trade with the Jets. Seattle gave up two first-round draft picks, a third-round pick and safety Bradley Mcdougald to get Adams and a fouth-round pick.