EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – OCTOBER 13: Jamal Adams #33 of the New York Jets walks off the field following his teams 24-22 win over the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on October 13, 2019 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
One GM feels Seattle was a bit too generous in its dealings for Jamal Adams and is dead wrong about that.
Many have been surprised at what the Seattle Seahawks gave away for Jamal Adams considering how desperately he wanted out of New York. In his Football Morning in America, Peter King of NBC Sports discussed a little more of the Adams deal, both in why head coach Pete Carroll loves it and NFL GMs do not.
One anonymous GM told King the following, with others sharing this sentiment,
I wouldn’t trade two ones for a safety … Particularly when you’ve got to pay the safety a lot of money. I like what the Jets did.
While two first-round picks is certainly a lot of value, it perhaps isn’t as much for Seattle as for most teams, which is exactly what Pete Caroll said in reference to the deal.
So we haven’t had a shot at a top-10 pick in a while, and we haven’t had a shot at a top safety in the draft since Earl. This was an extraordinary opportunity for us. Jamal’s a legitimate impact player, in the style we love.
Outside of the lottery, first-round picks have similar odds of success as those later in the draft, so it may not be as much of a loss to Seattle as it may seem. But the real reason why this makes so much sense for Seattle is in their win-now mentality.
Why pass on Jamal Adams for picks that you could only hope would be as good?
Russell Wilson will only be in the league for so long. As his clock ticks, as does the team’s. Back when Seattle had one of the league’s most dominant defenses, they were Super Bowl champions.
The offense has not gone away, ranked eighth in total yards and lethal on the ground, which is only going to be better with the addition of Carlos Hyde and a healthy Chris Carson.
Seattle needs to improve on defense, ranked 26th in yards with an inability to stop downfield passes or the rushing game. Adams will provide the field awareness and tackling ability to single-handedly improve those numbers.
Two first-round picks would fail to have an impact like that of Jamal Adams, especially considering the lack of star-caliber safeties. The scary part? Adams is only getting started too.
