Could Jamal Adams be traded by Seahawks in 2023?

An injury recovery timeline for Adams and the chances he is traded: Seaside Joe 1560

One of the first comments from Wednesday’s preview of upcoming Seahawks opponents, including Washington, is whether or not Seattle would take any serious interest in trading for disappointing former number two pick Chase Young. Whenever a former high draft pick is rumored to be on the trading block, you get fans of 31 teams seriously wondering if their team will make a move to go get him and most are out of their gourds.

However, in the case of the Seattle Seahawks, the question often warrants discussion because this is the same regime that acquired Jadeveon Clowney, Sheldon Richardson, Duane Brown, Jamal Adams, Percy Harvin, and Jimmy Graham via blockbuster trades. Several of them were in a much similar position to where Young and the Moons are sitting right now.

But no… In my opinion, the Seahawks are not interested in Chase Young and despite Albert Breer reporting that Washington would be open to a deal, I can’t see how they’ll benefit enough to make a trade. If Young has a breakout season, the team could give him the franchise tag and get back at least a first round pick, or they could keep him. If he is mediocre, they will likely still get back a compensatory draft pick because a team is probable to overpay for his potential.

So that’s my official stance on the Seahawks and Chase Young and I figured I might as well share it with everybody, as well as what my opinion is on the current status of Jamal Adams. It’s not about whether or not I think the Seahawks are on the verge of trading Adams, but whether or not such a move warrants its own discussion in the coming months.

Pete Carroll spoke to the media this week and gave no guarantees that Adams would be ready for Week 1. The fact that Carroll is often overly optimistic about injuries, yet hesitant to be hopeful of Adams’ return a full year from when the injury occurred, should worry Seattle fans who were hoping that he’d be back no later than the start of training camp.

If you go back to when the quad injury first occurred, Field Gulls’ John Gilbert noted that a “typical” recovery time was 4-6 months. Adams had surgery a couple of weeks later and then went home to recover, which is basically where he has been ever since. Carroll said “everybody sounds pleased” about how the surgery went but offered no timeline.

In December, Carroll dismissed any notion that Adams could be able to return for the playoffs and said that it would take “the whole offseason” to get better. Adams posted workout updates on Twitter and there was some belief that he could be ready for training camp. Carroll pumped the brakes on training camp at his end-of-season press conference, but he was hopeful about still running a defense that utilized his strengths.

"The last two years, it really did affect us," Carroll answered. "We had a real plan how we wanted to utilize him. He's a terrific ball player and he would be a big factor and the design of the scheme was all set up with that in mind. But I'm not blaming anything on that, we'll take advantage of it when we have him again and he'll make the most of it."

Jamal Adams has now missed 25 games in three years with the Seahawks, plus the playoffs.

Then just before the draft, Carroll said that having Adams (and Jordyn Brooks) for training camp “could happen” and that there was some optimism, but that Seattle wouldn’t “screw it up” and rush them. Then as of this week, Carroll said “let’s get to camp first” when asked about Adams and then said that the regular season “may be too much to ask, I don’t know. We’ll see.”

And that’s where we stand now on Jamal Adams.

Read Next: The origin story of potential breakout star Michael Jackson

What I think is most important now with regards to Adams and the Seahawks is how Seattle can no longer build a defense under Clint Hurtt that is heavily reliant on a safety with his skillset. The Seahawks signed Julian Love in the offseason to prepare for a situation where they need a quality safety next to Quandre Diggs and they are also high on sixth round pick Jerrick Reed II, although going to him or Joey Blount would seem to be more of an emergency situation.

It’s more than fine to have Jamal Adams for the season but it’s not fine for Hurtt and Carroll to assume that they will have him.

What happens if the Seahawks run an entire training camp without Adams, which seems plausible, if not probable, and they really like their looks with Diggs and Love? Is trading Adams an option AND is Adams a tradeable asset?

I would argue that he most likely is not.

The closest comparable situation I can think of within the last couple of years would be the Odell Beckham, Jr. situation in Cleveland after the Browns had run out of patience for when OBJ would finally help them win games. The Browns put OBJ on the block and in spite of his fame and talent, waived him and hoped that any team would pick up his contract. No team picked up his contract, he cleared waivers, and then signed a deal with the L.A. Rams.

The Seahawks owe Jamal Adams an $11 million base salary in 2023 and Gilbert again noted how his contract, and the lack of savings, makes him difficult to part with before 2024. Even finding a trade partner—which they probably wouldn’t—would likely necessitate agreeing to pay a large portion of his $11 million salary.

Instead, similar to Young, Seattle’s best bet would be to stick with Jamal Adams and hope that he has a career yet. If he plays well, the team would rather just keep him through the trade deadline. If he plays poorly or isn’t healthy, what team would give up 2024 draft picks for the right to acquire one of the most expensive safety contracts in the NFL? If Adams does play poorly, it is more likely that the Seahawks would waive him and see what happens.

We should expect the Seahawks and Adams to stick together for another season and the most surprising outcome before the 2023 trade deadline would be a trade. That’s very unlikely.