Blockbuster trade looking better and better

Aside from Jamal Adams’ scorched-earth campaign trashing the Jets’ brass and making it untenable for him to stay, there’s another significant reason his trade made a ton of sense.

And this reason truly reared its head during Adams’ first season with the Seattle Seahawks.

Adams missed a bunch of games early in the season with a groin injury, then came back and hurt both shoulders, one requiring surgery after the season. And on top of all that he broke two fingers on his left hand, which also needed to be surgically repaired following the season.

We aren’t making light of Adams’ injuries. The guy is a warrior. However, all these maladies illustrate how it’s very risky to give safeties monster contracts due to the injury-prone nature of that position.

Of course, all NFL positions can lead to injuries, but safety is perhaps one of the more injury-laden spots. It’s a position at which players who aren’t huge by football standards are constantly involved in violent collisions with opponents who are often bigger than them, such as large running backs (i.e. Derrick Henry). And on top of all the major collisions at the position, they also do a lot of running in coverage, which can lead to soft tissue injuries, such as hamstring and groin issues.

One reason the Seahawks traded for Adams was they had a deficit at safety after two key members of “The Legion of Boom,” safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas, had major injury issues that ended Chancellor’s career and Thomas’ time in Seattle.