The trade didn’t look great at the time. The Seattle Seahawks, desperate to revive the Legion of Boom defense that made them a world champion and postseason mainstay in the 2010s, handed the New York Jets a quarterback’s ransom in exchange for the opportunity to give safety Jamal Adams a four-year, $70.5 million contract.
That record-setting extension came a year after the trade that sent two first-round picks and a third to New York in exchange for the star safety. He signed the pact that ties him to Seattle through 2025 months before the Seahawks slumped to their first losing record since 2011. They subsequently decided to trade away the greatest quarterback in franchise history to jump-start a rebuild.
That’s made the Adams deal look even worse. In two seasons as a Seahawk, the former fifth overall pick has one second-team All-Pro appearance and two interceptions. After 9.5 sacks in 2020 he failed to record a single one in 2021. He has more games missed (nine) than passes defensed (eight) under Pete Carroll’s guidance.
How did things go so wrong? And what does it mean for the Seahawks moving forward?
