Looking at the intersection of the Jamal Adams and Russell Wilson trades

This article was almost “just a comment”, albeit a really long comment, in response to the final line of a recent article which said this about the Jamal Adams-Seattle Seahawks trade:

. . . it’s going to be exceptionally difficult for this trade to go down as anything other than a disaster.

To be fair, it’s not the first time something like that has been said.

In fact, many have said far worse . . .

. . . and some of them probably always will.

Enter another part of the aforementioned article:

There’s also a bit of a side story here with Adams’ quad injury; you may recall he suffered it while unsuccessfully trying to sack Russell Wilson, whom the Seahawks traded to the Denver Broncos to essentially get a first-round pick back that they had otherwise lost in the Adams trade.

That part, more than anything, is what led to the thought that ultimately became the basis of this article (instead of becoming “just a comment”).

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Whether intentional or not, the aforementioned article tied the Russell Wilson trade to the Jamal Adams trade.

I’ve done that myself a time or three.

However, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a breakdown of what could be viewed as a time-delayed three-way trade.

So let’s do it!

The New York Jets get:

• 2021 R1 (No. 23 overall; subsequently traded to the Minnesota Vikings*)
• 2021 R3 (No. 86 overall; part of the trade with the Vikings*)
• 2022 R1 (No. 10 overall; used to select WR Garrett Wilson)
• Safety Bradley McDougald

* The Jets sent Seattle’s 2021 picks (plus their own 3rd-round pick, No. 66 overall) to the Vikings for pick No. 14 (R1) and pick No. 143 (R4). The Jets used pick No. 14 to select OL Alijah Vera-Tucker before sending pick #143 to the Las Vegas Raiders for picks No. 162 (R5) and No. 200 (R6).

The Denver Broncos get:

• QB Russell Wilson
• 2022 R4 (No. 116 overall; used to select DE Eyioma Uwazurike)

The Seattle Seahawks get:

• Safety Jamal Adams
• 2022 R1 from Broncos (No. 9 overall; used to select OT Charles Cross)
• 2022 R2 from Broncos (No. 40 overall; used to select EDGE Boye Mafe)
• 2022 R4 from Jets (No. 109 overall; used to select CB Coby Bryant)
• 2022 R5 from Broncos (No. 145 overall; subsequently traded to Chiefs**)
• 2023 R1 from Broncos (No. 5 overall; used to select CB Devon Witherspoon)
• 2023 R2 from Broncos (No. 37 overall; used to select LB Derick Hall)
• QB Drew Lock
• DT Shelby Harris
• TE Noah Fant

** The Kansas City Chiefs sent 2 picks to Seattle for Denver’s R5 (pick No. 145) in the 2022 NFL Draft. Seattle used those picks on EDGE Tyreke Smith (No. 158) and WR Dareke Young (No. 233).

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Condensing that a little bit . . .

The Jets get three players: SS Bradley McDougald, OL Alijah Vera-Tucker, and WR Garrett Wilson

The Broncos get two players: QB Russell Wilson and DE Eyioma Uwazurike

The Seahawks get eleven players: SS Jamal Adams, QB Drew Lock, DT Shelby Harris, TE Noah Fant, OT Charles Cross, EDGE Boye Mafe, CB Coby Bryant, EDGE Tyreke Smith, WR Dareke Young, CB Devon Witherspoon, and LB Derick Hall.

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Now, just for fun, let’s combine the players that the Jets and Broncos got and compare them to the players that the Seahawks got:

JETS & BRONCOS:

• Safety Bradley McDougald: Started 7 games for the Jets in 2020 before suffering a shoulder injury and landing on Injured Reserve. The following year, he appeared in 2 games for the Tennessee Titans and 1 game for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Spent the 2022 season at home. Currently a free agent.

• OL Alijah Vera-Tucker: Won the starting role at Left Guard his rookie season and appeared in 16 games. In 2022, he played Right Guard (Weeks 1-3), Left Tackle (Week 4), and Right Tackle (Weeks 5-7), but tore his triceps in Week 7 and ended the season on Injured Reserve.

• WR Garrett Wilson: Won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2022.

• QB Russell Wilson: Endured the worst season of his career last year; some think that he might be “broken.”

• DE Eyioma Uwazurike: Appeared in 8 games as a rookie. Currently suspended indefinitely (through at least the 2023 season) for violating the NFL’s gambling policies.

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SEAHAWKS

• SS Jamal Adams: Set NFL record for DBs with 9-1/2 sacks in 2020, but has only played in 25 of 50 regular season games since coming to Seattle.

• QB Drew Lock: Spent the 2022 season as Geno Smith’s backup - which, barring something unexpected, he’ll do again in 2023.

• DT Shelby Harris: Had his moments in 2022, but was released in March and is currently a free agent (that a lot of 12s would like the Seahawks to re-sign).

• TE Noah Fant: Was Seattle’s 3rd-leading receiver last year in terms of targets (63), receptions (50), yards (486), and touchdowns (4; tied with Marquise Goodwin). Will presumably be Seattle’s No. 1 tight end again in 2023, but probably not the No. 3 catcher of Geno Smith passes.

• OT Charles Cross: Was Seattle’s starting left tackle his rookie season and should hold that spot for many years to come.

• EDGE Boye Mafe: Appeared in all 17 games last year, including 3 starts. Pro-Football-Reference.com credits him with 3 sacks, 4 QB hits, and 41 total tackles in 2022. Looking to improve on those numbers this year and is part of the competition to start opposite Uchenna Nwosu.

• CB Coby Bryant: Spent his rookie season as Seattle’s nickelback and is in the mix to repeat that role in 2023.

• EDGE Tyreke Smith: Spent the 2022 season on Injured Reserve.

• WR Dareke Young: Appeared in 13 games his rookie season and caught both of the passes that were thrown to him (100% completion rate!), both of which went for 12 yards and resulted in a first down (!!!). Also contributed on special teams (209 snaps) and can play Fullback should the need arise.

• CB Devon Witherspoon: Entering his rookie season but expected to be one of the starting cornerbacks Week 1.

• LB Derick Hall: Expected to be a key rotational contributor as a rookie.

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Obviously the Jamal Adams trade and the Russell Wilson trade were two separate deals, consummated two seasons apart, but . . .

If you look at them as a single time-delayed, three-way trade . . .

It looks pretty good to me.

What say the 12s?