There has been no shortage of lopsided trades in the NFL in recent years.
The Texans sent All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals in exchange for a rapidly declining David Johnson and day two draft pick. The Raiders gave up two draft picks for Antonio Brown, who never played a regular-season snap with the team. The list goes on and on.
None of those trades compare to what Joe Douglas pulled off two summers ago, though.
Douglas had to get Jamal Adams out of town and the entire NFL knew it. The All-Pro safety was about as disgruntled as they come and had burned every bridge with the organization that drafted him. The damage was irreversible, and his time with the Jets was destined to end sooner than later.
In theory, Douglas shouldn’t have had much leverage in trade negotiations. The situation was bleak on the Jets’ end, as they were left with a player who found a new way to be a distraction on a near-daily basis. Adams didn’t exactly endear himself to other teams with the way he acted at the end of his stay in New York. And, as talented as he is, his position is not considered a premium one.
The Seahawks didn’t care, though. They had another trip to the Super Bowl in their sights and thought Adams could be a key part in helping them get there. John Schneider went all-in, sending two first-round picks and Bradley McDougald to the Jets in exchange for Adams and a 2022 fourth-round pick.
All parties involved got what they wanted at the time of the trade, but it is the Jets who can now say that they pulled off a heist. Seattle is struggling almost as badly as Gang Green did when Adams was with the team and the Jets currently own two top-five picks as a result, a dream scenario for Douglas given his affinity for building through the draft.
New York rid itself of a locker room cancer and jumpstarted its rebuild in one fell swoop. Nobody could have predicted the Seahawks dropping to the bottom of the NFC West this season, but the Jets aren’t complaining. They’re now in a position to reshape their roster with two high draft picks that have the talent and potential to change the direction of the franchise.
The Seahawks, meanwhile, haven’t even figured out how to use Adams after committing a massive amount of money and assets to him.
All that’s left for Douglas to do is hit on those two draft picks. He knocked it out of the park in last year’s draft by landing Michael Carter, Elijah Moore and Alijah Vera-Tucker. The possibilities are endless now that New York’s general manager has a chance to get his hands on two of the best players in college football.
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