How do Seahawks keep striking gold with in-season trades?

Dec 7, 2024, 10:36 AM

Leonard Williams of the Seattle Seahawks pumps up the crowd during a 2024 game. (Jane Gershovich/Getty Images)

(Jane Gershovich/Getty Images)

BY CAMERON VAN TIL

Seattle Sports

When it comes to midseason trades, general manager John Schneider and the Seattle Seahawks have struck gold.

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Most notably, there was the 2010 midseason trade for star running back Marshawn Lynch. There also were the midseason deals for left tackle Duane Brown in 2017, soon-to-be Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs in 2019 and defensive end Carlos Dunlap II in 2020. All were decidedly successful moves for the franchise.

And now, it looks like two more names can be added to the list: Leonard Williams and Ernest Jones IV.

The Seahawks acquired Williams in an Oct. 30, 2023, trade with the New York Giants and then re-signed him to a three-year, $64.5 million deal this past March. The veteran defensive lineman has certainly lived up to his contract, compiling a standout 2024 campaign highlighted by back-to-back dominant performances the past two weeks.

And this year, the Seahawks acquired Jones in an Oct. 23 swap of inside linebackers that sent Jerome Baker to the Tennessee Titans. Seattle’s defense has taken off since Jones’ arrival, with the fourth-year pro providing a steadying presence for a unit that’s held four straight opponents to 17 offensive points or fewer in regulation.

“It really does speak to the success John Schneider and the Seahawks front office have had with in-season trade acquisitions,” co-host Stacy Rost said Wednesday on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy. “It’s pretty crazy. They have been wildly successful. … This is something they’ve just knocked out of the park. ”

Rost then contrasted it with some of the notable offseason deals the franchise has made over the years.

The Seahawks definitely won the Russell Wilson trade with the Denver Broncos in March 2022, but their offseason deals for wide receiver Percy Harvin (2013), tight end Jimmy Graham (2015) and safety Jamal Adams (2020) didn’t work out particularly well.

“The opposite has been true with the Seahawks’ biggest (offseason) trades,” Rost said. “The Seahawks gave up first-round picks for Jimmy Graham, Jamal Adams, Percy Harvin. … And yet when it gets to midseason deals, they figure it out. Why? Like, why is there that difference? I don’t get it.”

Former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus equated it to a golfer who excels at making mid-round adjustments.

“I don’t get it either,” Bumpus said. “But I think that you have to lean in what to what you’re good at, right? And I think what they’re good at is putting a team together and then making the adjustments midseason and figuring out, ‘All right, what can take this team to the next level? What exactly are we missing?'”

“It’s like when you’re on that golf course and you’re at the driving range and you’re playing a draw,” he added. “Then you get on the course, and all of a sudden, you’ve got a fade. Now you’ve gotta adjust. How are you going to adjust? … That’s what they do. They make the adjustments to their team, and it’s been pretty fun to watch.”

Seahawks’ notable midseason trades under Schneider

Below is a look at the most successful in-season trades Seattle has made under Schneider, in reverse chronological order.

• LB Ernest Jones (Oct. 23, 2024): The Seahawks acquired Jones by sending starting inside linebacker Jerome Baker and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick to the Titans. Jones has been a revelation in the middle of Seattle’s defense, providing a steadying force that has helped key the unit’s dramatic midseason turnaround. In his five games with the Seahawks, he has totaled 55 tackles, a pass breakup and a tackle for loss, but his impact goes far beyond the stats.

• DL Leonard Williams (Oct. 30, 2023): The Seahawks acquired Williams by sending a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Giants. Williams, the current NFL Defensive Player of the Week, is in the midst of a sensational two-game tear that’s produced 4.5 sacks, six tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, two pass breakups, a blocked extra point and the longest pick-six by a defensive lineman in NFL history. He has totaled 11 sacks and 19 tackles for loss in 21 games since arriving in Seattle last October, including seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss this season. He ranks third among defensive tackles in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate this year and fourth among interior defensive linemen in Pro Football Focus grading.

• DE Carlos Dunlap II (Oct. 28, 2020): The Seahawks acquired Dunlap by sending center B.J. Finney and a 2021 seventh-round pick to the Bengals. Dunlap only spent the second half of the 2020 season in Seattle, but made his presence felt. He totaled five sacks, six tackles for loss and two pass breakups in eight games, while helping key a defensive turnaround that saw the Seahawks allow just 16 points per game over the final eight weeks of the regular season.

• S Quandre Diggs (Oct. 23, 2019): The Seahawks sent a 2020 fifth-round pick to the Lions in exchange for Diggs and a 2021 seventh-round pick. Diggs immediately became a key part of Seattle’s defense, earning three consecutive Pro Bowl selections in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Over his 72 games with the Seahawks, he totaled 18 interceptions, 32 pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

• LT Duane Brown (Nov. 1, 2017): The Seahawks traded a 2018 third-round pick and a 2019 second-round pick to the Texans in exchange for Brown and a 2018 fifth-round pick. Brown was an anchor at left tackle, starting 70 games for the Seahawks and earning a Pro Bowl nod in his final season with Seattle in 2021.

• RB Marshawn Lynch (Oct. 5, 2010): The biggest midseason trade of the John Schneider/Pete Carroll era came midway through their first season at the helm, when they dealt a 2011 fourth-round pick and a 2012 fifth-round pick to the Bills in exchange for one of the most legendary players in franchise history. Lynch became a defining figure of the Seahawks’ glory days and delivered some of the franchise’s most iconic plays during his spectacular six-year run in Seattle, which included four Pro Bowl nods and an All-Pro selection in 2012. Lynch finished among the top 10 in the NFL in rushing yardage for four straight seasons from 2011 through 2014, topping the 1,200-yard mark all four years.

Hear the full conversation at this link or listen to the audio player in this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.