The Seahawks and Jets own the weekend, with the mega-trade involving Jamal Adams. Typically with these kinds of trades, the effort to give up a lot of resources for the “final piece of the puzzle” tend to fall short.
The trouble with these kind of deals is that you not only have to give up all-valuable draft picks, you also then have to pay the player you just obtained. It would be one thing to open the vault for Adams if he were a free agent, but the Seahawks are first giving up significant draft capital for that opportunity.
A bunch of other teams have gone this route during the fantasy football era, and it hasn’t tended to go well.
Since 1987, there have been 10 other instances in which a team has given up multiple first-round picks for a player. Only one of those players went on to play in a Super Bowl game, and when the Bucs won it all back in February, 2003, Keyshawn Johnson didn’t play a primary role (it was the defense that drove that team).
Only one other of these players has reached the conference championship game level, and it ended with Jay Cutler leaving at halftime of a 21-14 loss against Green Bay at Soldier Field.
Of these 10 players, they’ve gone 5-10 in playoff games (in all seasons playing with their new teams).
There have also been a bunch of huge deals involving draft picks. Those are slightly different, since you don’t have the dynamic of the player already being a big star and needing a new contract. And they often involve teams trading away lower first-round picks, plus one in an additional year, to move up to get a player. In the chart below, if the player had never played in an NFL game, I’ve got him tagged with a black dot. Some of those guys have had some success. John Elway and Patrick Mahomes, most notably, have won championships, and Jared Goff and Julio Jones have played in Super Bowl games.
Typically on these kind of deals, they’re for players playing marquee positions. Adams, on the other hand, is a safety.
The popularity of these deals has been rising recently. We’ve seen four in the last three years, including Khalil Mack, Laremy Tunsil and Jalen Ramsey. Mack and Tunsil have signed monstrously huge contracts, while Ramsey has the Rams over a barrell.
Especially with the NFL heading into unchartered financial waters, I prefer New York’s side of this deal.
| PLAYERS TRADED FOR MULTIPLE FIRST-ROUND PICKS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Playoffs | From |
| 1983 | • John Elway, Den. | 14-7 | Indianapolis |
| 1986 | • Jim Everett, LAR | 2-3 | Houston |
| 1987 | Eric Dickerson, Ind. | 0-1 | Los Angeles |
| 1988 | Fredd Young, Ind. | 0-1 | Seattle |
| 1990 | • Cortez Kennedy, Sea. | 0-1 | New England |
| 1989 | Herschel Walker, Min. | 0-1 | Dallas |
| 1994 | Jeff George, Atl. | 0-1 | Indianapolis |
| 1999 | • Ryan Leaf, S.D. | 0-0 | Arizona |
| 1999 | • Ricky Williams, N.O. | 0-1 | Washington |
| 2000 | Keyshawn Johnson, T.B. | 3-2 | NY Jets |
| 2000 | Joey Galloway, Sea. | 0-1 | Dallas |
| 2009 | Jay Cutler, Chi. | 1-1 | Denver |
| 2011 | • Julio Jones, Atl. | 4-4 | Cleveland |
| 2012 | • Robert Griffin, Wash. | 0-1 | St. Louis |
| 2016 | • Jared Goff, LAR | 2-1 | Tennessee |
| 2016 | • Carson Wentz, Phil. | 0-1 | Cleveland |
| 2017 | • Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 1-2 | Cleveland |
| 2017 | • Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 4-1 | Buffalo |
| 2018 | Khalil Mack, Chi. | 0-1 | Oakland |
| 2019 | Laremy Tunsil, Hou. | 1-1 | Miami |
| 2019 | Jalen Ramsey, LAR | 0-0 | Jacksonville |
—Ian Allan