There are a litany of issues contributing to the Seattle Seahawks’ apparent need to rebuild.
Chief among them for Audacy NFL analyst and former executive Mike Lombardi: the ill-fated Jamal Adams trade.
The Seahawks pried Adams from the New York Jets in a hefty trade during the 2020 offseason. Adams escaped a rebuild in New York, and thanks to the Russell Wilson trade this week, ended up in one again with Seattle, which sent its 2021 and 2022 first-round picks, as well as 2021 third-rounder, to the Jets in the trade.
Lombardi made clear how big of a mistake that was on 92.9 The Game on Friday.
“I thought the trade for Jamal Adams was one of the worst trades you could possibly make,” Lombardi told “The Midday Show with Andy and Randy.” “That was one of those where they were one player away from being a great team. And Jamal Adams is really good when he can blitz against a back or against somebody who’s not an offensive lineman.
“But when a lineman designates him in protection he’s not effective, and then he doesn’t cover anybody, he can’t cover, he’s not a space player. And if you play safety, the No. 1 requirement is to play the pass, and he can’t play that. So, for me, this is a rebuild they’re going to have to do because of that trade. I think it took them down the wrong path.”
Seattle’s on-field problems run deeper than Adams. Ironically, Wilson was not great last season and the Seahawks missed the playoffs after bowing out in the wild card round the year before.
But it’s how much that trade ultimately hamstrung Seattle by leaving it without a first-round pick for two years. You can maybe live with that if you’re actually contending, but the Seahawks’ underperforming ultimately made the loss of those picks disastrous.
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