Where does the Jamal Adams deal rank among worst trades of the Pete Carroll era?
Jamal Adams will be going on injured reserve soon, as we learned today the Seahawks safety has to undergo season-ending surgery on his shoulder. While Adams is an excellent defender in a vacuum, the trade that brought him over from the Jets is beginning to look like a potential era-ending blunder. Given the massive draft capital and financial investment the team has made in Adams, every game he misses or doesn’t play at an All-Pro level is another crushing blow.
Here are the worst trades of the Pete Carroll, John Schneider era and where the Adams deal ranks among them.
The Sheldon Richardson debacle
(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
When: September 1st, 2017
Traded: WR Jermaine Kearse, second-round draft pick (No. 49 overall), plus a 2018 seventh-round pick
Acquired: DT Sheldon Richardson, seventh-round pick
This deal felt similar to the Adams one and not because it also involved the Jets fleecing the Seahawks. The idea was to reinvigorate Seattle’s declining defense by adding the supposed missing piece to the puzzle up front. It didn’t work out that way at all.
While it was no great loss to cut ties with Jermaine Kearse, the second-rounder they surrendered eventually became star tight end Dallas Goedert. More importantly, Richardson was a total bust in Seattle. In his 15 games with the Seahawks, he managed just one sack and three tackles for a loss. He moved onto Minnesota the next year.
The Jimmy Graham calamity
(Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
When: March 10, 2015
Traded: C Max Unger, 2015 first-round pick (No. 31 overall)
Acquired: TE Jimmy Graham, 2015 fourth-round pick (No. 112)
This one might have punctured Seattle’s Super Bowl bubble about as much as any other move the front office made in the post-Scot McCloughan era. The Seahawks offensive line was already on shaky footing at this time. Dealing away their best lineman and the leader in Unger proved disastrous for that unit for several years after. The Seahawks haven’t rostered a center of Unger’s caliber ever since.
As for Graham, the idea made sense in that Russell Wilson needed a red-zone weapon badly. However, Graham was a poor culture fit and not just because he’s a terrible blocker. As part of a mostly run-heavy offense, Graham never got the targets to remotely justify this trade. While it’s true he had a great 2017 season (10 touchdown catches), keeping Unger would have made this team far more competitive during this stretch.
The Percy Harvin catastrophe
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
When: March 12, 2013
Traded: 2013 first-round pick (No. 25), seventh-round pick, plus 2014 third-round pick (No. 96)
Acquired: WR/KR Percy Harvin
When Carroll and Schneider see a player they fall in love with, they’re not afraid to sell the farm to get him. That instinct bit them hard here as well as with Adams. Harvin was a special kind of athlete in his prime but Seattle simply gave up far too much draft capital to get him.
Harvin’s kickoff return in the Super Bowl is a fond memory and great moment, but one warm-and-fuzzy feeling isn’t worth the headaches Harvin caused behind the scenes. After playing in a grand total of six regular season games in a Seahawks uniform, he was traded to the Jets in October of 2014.
The Jamal Adams apocalypse
(AP Photo/John Bazemore)
When: July 25, 2020
Traded: 2021 first-round pick (No. 23), third-round pick (No. 86), plus a 2022 first-round pick
Acquired: SS Jamal Adams, 2022 fourth-round pick
To be fair, we love Adams’ game and the energy he brings to the table. Adams should shoulder (sorry) none of the blame for getting hurt or for the trade that brought him here. However, if Carroll and Schneider wind up losing their jobs any time in the near future, this deal will have played a significant factor in the exit.
Investing two first-rounders for a safety in the first place was never a good idea – but the team had no choice but to double-down with a four-year, $70 million contract extension this past offseason. Even worse, Seattle’s defene wasn’t playing to his strengths this year as in 2020. This is the kind of escalating failure that becomes a multi-year albatross, dragging down entire organizations and the front offices that run them.
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