Getty Seahawks general manager John Schneider (left) and head coach Pete Carroll appear to have won the Russell Wilson trade.
Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider recently got candid about some of the mistakes the front office has made during his tenure. Former Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff traveled across the country to record podcast interviews with many NFL general managers.
Schneider’s interview took place prior to the 2021 season but was just released on “The GM Journey” podcast. The eye-opening interview is worth the 12s listening to in its entirety. Schneider was asked to reflect about some of his most regrettable moves and, without mentioning Percy Harvin by name, the Seahawks exec would clearly like a do-over.
“Like the bigger trades we’ve made, we traded for an individual and made him the highest-paid player on our team,” Schneider said referring to Harvin. “I would never ever do that again. Just didn’t know philosophically, at the time, what we were doing. I mean, we knew what we were doing, but we should have known better.”
The Seahawks acquired Harvin from the Vikings in a March 12, 2013 trade that prompted Seattle to give Minnesota first- and seventh-round picks in the 2013 NFL draft. Seattle’s No. 25 pick proved to be the centerpiece of the deal, but the Seahawks also sent a 2014 third-rounder to Minnesota as part of the deal. After landing Harvin, the Seahawks signed the playmaker to a six-year, $67 million contract extension, giving the wideout an average annual salary of $11.16 million.
ALL the latest Seahawks news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Seahawks newsletter here!
Harvin Only Played in 6 Regular-Season Games for the Seahawks Before Being Traded Again in 2014
Seahawks GM John Schneider:
“We traded for an individual and made him the highest player on our team and I would never, ever do that again. We just didn’t know philosophically at the time what we were doing […] We should have known better”
Is this about Adams, Harvin or both?
The Harvin trade proved to be disastrous for the Seahawks as the receiver only played in six games for Seattle before the team opted to deal the speedster to the Jets. Harvin played in just one regular-season games during the team’s 2013 championship run but did make a key kick return for a touchdown during the Super Bowl as the Seahawks thrashed the Broncos 43-8. The receiver had 23 receptions for 150 yards during his two seasons with the Seahawks.
Seattle was able to pull off a mid-season trade with the Jets in 2014 to unload the receiver’s contract. The Seahawks received a conditional draft pick from the Jets which ultimately became a sixth-round selection. Harvin was never able to find his footing after having four successful seasons with the Vikings to begin his NFL career. The playmaker spent his final two seasons with the Bills and last played an NFL game in 2016.
Did the Seahawks Make the Same Mistake by Trading for Adams?
The irony of Schneider’s comments is that the Seahawks made a similar move by acquiring safety Jamal Adams from the Jets in a blockbuster trade during the 2020 offseason. The Seahawks gave up even more in the deal sending two first-round picks (one ended up being a top-10 selection in 2022), a 2023 third-rounder and safety Bradley McDougald to the Jets. Seattle received a fourth-round pick along with Adams as part of the deal.
Adams began his tenure with the Seahawks on a four-year, $22.2 million rookie contract, but Seattle signed the star safety to an extension in 2021. The defender inked a four-year, $70.5 million new contract last offseason that runs through 2025.
Adams has had mixed results since arriving in Seattle as the safety has been sidelined with multiple injuries. The veteran defender was held without a sack in 2021 after notching 9.5 quarterback takedowns the previous season.
Adams missed four games his first season with the Seahawks and five games in 2021. The Athletic’s Ben Baldwin pointed out the Seahawks made the same mistake twice, and that is not even considering the Jimmy Graham deal with the Saints in 2015.
“The original quote is almost surely about the Harvin trade but it’s funny how they did it again for Adams,” Baldwin tweeted regarding Schneider’s comments.