Seahawks reaction: Why Brock & Salk are split on the Jamal Adams trade

The Seahawks’ acquisition of Jamal Adams has just about everybody excited for what the All-Pro safety can bring to the team’s defense, though the haul Seattle gave up in the trade with the Jets has certainly received mixed reviews.

Wyman: Adams can play anywhere for Seahawks, adds 5-10 sacks

One person who isn’t a fan of what the Seahawks sent away for Adams is Brock Huard, the former Seahawks quarterback and current FOX college football analyst, saying that he loves the player but doesn’t like the deal – which cost Seattle two first-round picks, a third-round pick and safety Bradley McDougald for Adams and a fourth-round pick – “at all.”

His co-host on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk Podcast, Mike Salk, falls on the other side of the argument, however.

“I wanted them to do this,” Salk said of the acquisition of Adams. “They gave up more than I thought they were going to, I’m not just going to forget about Bradley McDougald, but at the end of the day, I really, really like this deal for the Seahawks, and in the window they’re in right now with (quarterback Russell Wilson) in this particular spot in his career, I think they need it.”

Let’s take a closer look at Brock and Salk’s differing reactions to the trade.

What the Seahawks gave up

Brock’s take: “Two first-round picks and a third-round pick and eventually you’re going to have pay him – and it looks like you’re not going to have to pay him for this upcoming season, which gives you more flexibility if you’re truly going to be quote-unquote ‘all-in’ and make another move or two on your D-line, which I think you still have to do. But the two first-round picks for a team that has loved volume, that has loved manipulating the draft… that is where (general manager John Schneider) has been at his best for eight or nine years… and you’re going to lose those two first-round picks for back-to-back years.”

Salk’s take: ” I think they needed to give up what they needed to give up to get him, and I’m not one of these ‘John Schneider would have blown the picks anyway’ (people) – no, that’s a lie. That’s what keeps me from saying I love it. But you’re in a win-now window, you’ve got Russell Wilson in his prime, needing superstars and needing a defense to complement (him).”

The fit

Brock’s take: “I love the player, I hate the deal. … Jamal Adams was a guy that I remember (coming out of LSU), I was like, ‘Yep, this guy is a mix of Kam (Chancellor) and Earl (Thomas).’ This guy loves ball. This guy’s all over the ball, he is instinctive and he’s just a football player. He’s everything – just the essence of everything – that Pete (Carroll) and John look for and love in a football player. It is Jamal Adams, so I absolutely love the player but I don’t like the deal at all.”

Salk’s take: “If you’re going to (commit to being a balanced offense), you better have someone on your defense that’s good, and right now you’ve got Bobby Wagner and bubkis. So you bring (Adams) in and you pair him with Quandre Diggs and all the sudden you start to turn the secondary into something that maybe the Niners and the Rams and everybody else are going to have to think twice (about) before they just start throwing those seam routes down the middle to their tight ends because guess what, you may have Jamal Adams pull a Kam Chancellor and pummel somebody and all the sudden those seam routes don’t look the same as they once did. And you’re going to need that extra guy that can come up in the box because guess what, those teams like to run the ball too.”

The last word

Brock’s take: “You mortgaged your future for it and you have to be right. … First-round picks are supposed to be your most talented players that you can control for five years in a cost-control manner, so they are valuable.”

Salk’s take: “Take the ball away now and again. Intimidate somebody now and again. Be the Seahawks now and again instead of the shell of yourself that they’ve been defensively for the last couple of years.”

You can hear the full conversation plus ESPN analyst and former NFL safety Ryan Clark’s take on the Adams trade here in the latest episode of the Brock and Salk Podcast.

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk on Twitter.

Further reading: Huard’s good and bad of the Jamal Adams trade

Follow @BrentStecker