New York Jets fans enjoy roasting Jamal Adams after Russell Wilson trade
Ever since Jamal Adams left the New York Jets in 2020, Jets fans have eagerly jumped on every single opportunity to make fun of the outspoken safety who forced his way out of town.
Another opportunity emerged on Tuesday.
Adams’ Seattle Seahawks traded superstar quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos in exchange for five draft picks and three players, igniting a rebuilding process for a franchise that has been known as a perennial contender since Wilson joined the team in 2012.
It’s got to be a tough pill to swallow for Adams, who publicly admitted that he was tired of the rebuilding in New York.
“I was sick of hearing ‘the rebuild year’,” Adams said in a November 2020 interview.
“Let’s be honest, the Jets were the laughingstock,” Adams said. “(In Seattle), this is how the NFL is supposed to be. This is the dream I was dreamin’.”
Welcome back to reality, Jamal.
Jets fans wasted no time pulling out the jokes.
It’s a real shame the Seahawks might enter a re-build
I would hate to have just signed a long term contract there!!!
In August 2021, Adams signed a four-year, $70 million contract extension with Seattle that runs through the 2025 season, so he’s pretty much stuck in the Pacific Northwest for whatever trials and tribulations await in the post-Russell Wilson era.
Seattle continued signaling its upcoming rebuild with another big move after the Wilson trade. The Seahawks released eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Bobby Wagner, who arrived alongside Wilson in the team’s 2012 draft class.
Seahawks informed eight-time All-Pro and Pro-Bowl LB Bobby Wagner, a franchise icon, that they are releasing him, per source.
Wagner arrived in Seattle on the same 2012 day as Russell Wilson and now leaves the same day, too. End of an era in Seattle.
New York Jets are sitting pretty after Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson trade
As the New York Jets embark on a second pivotal offseason supercharged with Seattle draft capital, fans of Gang Green can rest a little easier knowing with certainty that the team made the right call when it traded Jamal Adams before the 2020 season.
The Seahawks have had their wings clipped, and Adams is stuck at the beginning of a rebuild similar to the one he forced his way out of in New York.
The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks set the league ablaze after announcing a trade involving Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. The Seahawks netted two first and two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, and three players in exchange for Wilson and a fourth-round pick.
Denver lands the star quarterback they’ve been searching for since Peyton Manning’s retirement, and Seattle adds a trove of draft picks they desperately need to start their rebuild.
However, Seattle’s immediate hopes without Wilson currently look bleak at best.
Jeanna Kelley, SB Nation’s Associate Director of Team Communities and a former Atlanta Falcons beat reporter, joined The Oklahoma Drill Podcast to break down a wild week of league news, including the bombshell Wilson trade.
Kelley told OKD, “It’s gonna be really interesting to see how this works out for Seattle.”
Kelley then went on to pessimistically list the Seahawks’ options at quarterback, if trade-addition Drew Lock is not the intended starter. “I don’t think this is the strongest year to draft somebody. You may be able to get somebody via trade, but are they going to be on par with Russell Wilson?”
The Seahawks had plenty of needs before losing Wilson, and half of the premium picks they acquired are simply replacing picks used to trade for Jamal Adams. In turn, Kelley acknowledges that Seattle may be in for a rough 2022. ”
They have a lot of other issues on that roster that they need to fix,” Kelley explained. “This might not be the best season for the Seahawks.”
The Oklahoma Drill Podcast spoke with Kelley to analyze all the hot-topics across the NFL. Listen to the full interview for breakdowns of the Russell Wilson trade, the NFL’s franchise tag deadline (featuring the loss of dream targets like Dalton Schultz for the Jets), Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley’s polarizing suspension, and more.
It may be easy, and admittedly fun, to be petty towards Adams for his New York exit. But with Seattle in shambles, and New York primed to re-shape their roster around their own gunslinging Wilson, it may be time to let the pettiness go. As a great linebacker once said, “Luv!”.
Although the Seattle Seahawks are facing an uphill battle in the 2022 NFL season, the franchise still needs its stars to compete. Some concerns developed after Jamal Adams’ hand received another injury. It’s not a great situation for this team, but it sounds like the organization is staying optimistic.
According to Ian Rapoport, the Seahawks expect Adams to return to practice soon. He’ll have a club over his hand along with a special cast for games. Rapoport also mentions that the star safety is likely going to need surgery on his hand, but it sounds like Jamal Adams will hold off until the next offseason.
#Seahawks S Jamal Adams, who broke a finger during a recent practice when it got stuck in a helmet, is expected to be back practicing with a club and a special cast for games, sources say. If he has surgery, which is likely, the plan is for it to be in the offseason.
Suffering any kind of injury is not ideal, but at the very least, the Seahawks aren’t losing their star defensive player. It’ll be interesting to see how Jamal Adams plays in the 2022 NFL season though, as a hand injury could prevent him from playing at the highest level. Even so, he tends to excel in rushing the backfield and playing downhill, so there’s a chance he will be unfazed by this current mishap.
So, the Seahawks will continue practicing and preparing for the upcoming NFL season with Jamal Adams in the lineup. It’s unclear exactly how well Seattle will play this year, but at the very least, the front office has managed to keep its star players happy. Between Adams returning and DK Metcalf securing the bag, this organization is in a great spot to build upon its solid foundation.
Keep an eye on the Seahawks, as they hope to surprise the league this year.
Very few people expect the Seahawks to be playoff contenders in 2022 after trading quarterback Russell Wilson and parting ways with linebacker Bobby Wagner this offseason. Longtime Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright, however, is who’s higher on the Hawks than most.
Since the Seahawks have two first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft and don’t have a clear long-term option at quarterback, many expect them to take a step back in 2022 and get their quarterback of the future in the next offseason. Wright doesn’t think that Seattle and head coach Pete Carroll would be OK with that plan, though.
“Coach Carroll is a winner, right? … He’s won his whole career. He’s won at USC, he’s won in Seattle, and he plans on winning again this football season,” Wright said when he joined Seattle Sports 710 AM’s Bump and Stacy in studio Thursday morning, adding later that the prospect of the Seahawks “tanking” is “bizarre.”
Wright said the Seahawks have the talent to make a playoff run this year as long as the coaching staff can put players in good positions to be successful.
“I said the Seahawks have a legit chance to make a playoff run. And people thought I was crazy,” he said. “But just wait and see. You’ve got 17 games, and I believe they can truly make it happen.”
So if the Seahawks are going to be successful in 2022, which players will be critical both on the field as well as in leadership roles? Wright thinks the answer is clear.
“Let me tell you what I did. I went to practice the other day and I walked up to a few people, and I said, ‘The success of this team is going to fall on your shoulders.’ I was talking to the DBs,” Wright said. “The success of this team when it comes to playmaking, and when it comes to leadership, it’s gonna fall in on this position group.”
Specifically, Wright was referring to safeties Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams.
Diggs, who re-signed with the Seahawks after posting consecutive Pro Bowl seasons, is entering his fourth season in Seattle and his third full campaign. Adams, meanwhile, is a three-time All-Pro who the Seahawks traded multiple high draft picks to acquire. He was a second-team All-Pro in his first season in Seattle in 2020 but didn’t make as many big plays in 2021 as he did the year prior.
Normally, Wright said, leadership falls on linebackers on defense, but he thinks it falls on Diggs and Adams this year. That’s on top of those two needing to step up on the field.
“I look at those two guys in the back end … when things go bad – which they will, it’s ball – who’s going to be the guy to step up and get this team on the same page?” Wright said. “It’s not gonna be the offensive line, it’s not gonna be the quarterbacks, it’s not gonna be the linebackers. It’s going to have to be those those two guys. So I’m looking at them to carry this ship, to make sure this thing is successful, make plays. So it’s gonna be fun to see and I can’t want to see them get it done.”
Wright played with Diggs in 2019 and both Diggs and Adams in 2020. How does he know those two are ready to take on a bigger role for the Seahawks?
“Well, first of all, the guy that I’m looking for is Quandre. Quandre is that guy,” he said.
Diggs, first and foremost, is a great locker room guy, Wright said.
“The guys love him,” he said. “The guys respect him, he gets along with everybody, he can joke around with you, he can also be serious. And with Quandre – I played with him – when things do get bad, the frustration has got to decrease. When you do get mad, that’s when you’ve really got to kick in your leadership and get guys on the same page. And so obviously on the football field, he’s a baller, he’s a playmaker, but you gotta carry it, you’ve gotta lead guys, you’ve gotta get guys on the same page.”
What about Adams?
“And then you’ve got Jamal, (who is) completely different,” Wright said. “I’m looking for Jamal, obviously with the playmaking .. He got hurt (last year and) didn’t play like he wanted to. So with this new scheme they have, I’m really looking forward to Jamal looking how he did when he first came on the scene making those sacks, getting interceptions, putting them in position to be successful. It’s gonna be a fun year for those two.”
To hear full audio from Wright’s conversation with Bump and Stacy, click the following links: Part 1 | Part 2.
RENTON, Wash. - If there's a silver lining to the Seahawks likely losing Jamal Adams for the remainder of the 2022 season, the team has grown used to playing without him since he arrived via trade from the Jets. Dealing with numerous injuries, including playing through a torn labrum in his shoulder in 2020, he missed nine regular season games in his first two seasons with the organization.
But after four games, with Adams missing all but one quarter due to a torn quad tendon that required surgery, there's no question Seattle badly misses the uniquely skilled All-Pro safety this time around. Without his services, coach Pete Carroll's squad ranks 31st in points allowed (28.8 points per game), 28th in pass defense, and 29th in run defense. In advanced metrics, they sit 31st in DVOA according to Football Outsiders, including dead last defending the pass.
Making the situation more disheartening, unlike a year ago when the Seahawks were still trying to figure out how to best utilize his talents on the fly after he held in for a new contract, Carroll felt they finally had a schematic plan in place to maximize Adams' abilities. But since he went down in Week 1 with a fluky injury while attempting to sack former teammate Russell Wilson, they have struggled with Josh Jones stepping in as his replacement and felt his loss much more than previous years.
“As it was a year ago, it went the other way. We didn’t have him to develop some stuff that we wanted to do then," coach Pete Carroll said of the Seahawks navigating the waters without Adams. "Now, we had enough time to get our stuff going, so we have had to shift gears some. I’m going to leave it at that.”
Likely fatigued from being asked about the subject, Carroll refused to delve into how much Adams' absence has influenced Seattle's ongoing defensive woes or impacted what they can or cannot do schematically. But on the field, it's clear the defensive blueprint put in place under a revamped defensive coaching staff isn't working near as well as envisioned without No. 33 flying around making plays.
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Transitioning to a hybrid 3-4 defense with defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt taking the reins and assistant coaches Sean Desai and Karl Scott joining the fold, Adams played extensive snaps in nickel and dime sets as a pseudo-linebacker in training camp, often replacing Cody Barton with the Seahawks keeping three safeties on the field. Known for his pass rushing prowess and physical play defending the run, lining him up in the box more often was expected to provide more flexibility while still having an extra defensive back on the field to combat opposing passing games.
Minus Adams, Seattle has been more selective mixing in such three safety sub-packages, but the team has continued to play a ton of nickel defense with five defensive backs on the field. In a 48-45 win over Detroit on Sunday, slot cornerback Coby Bryant played 58 out of 74 snaps, or nearly 80 percent of the team's defensive snaps. He played 66 percent of their snaps one week earlier against Atlanta and even against run-heavy San Francisco in Week 2, he was on the field two-thirds of the time.
In today's NFL, it's not uncommon for teams to play nickel or dime sets more than 50 percent of the time. But with the coaching staff strangely staying in nickel and even dime sets in the red zone and in short yardage situations, the Seahawks' reliance on such sub-packages while missing a huge piece of the puzzle in Adams has hindered them greatly defending the run and results against the pass haven't been much better.
Given the dire circumstances after allowing 45 points to a Lions offense without three of their top playmakers, it's easy to say Carroll and his assistants have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what they can do to help right the ship. After already benching an underperforming Darrell Taylor a week ago, it may be time to make another switch at strong safety where Adams normally resides to try to find a spark.
Despite impressing throughout training camp and the preseason to earn a roster spot, Jones hasn't performed well in Adams' stead by any measure. According to Pro Football Focus, he's missed nine tackles, the second-most among safeties in the NFL, while posting a 28.1 percent missed tackle rate, fourth-worst in the league. He also has allowed 229 yards in coverage, almost 70 yards more than any other safety, along with yielding a 132.9 passer rating.
Though Carroll, Hurtt, and teammates have maintained confidence in Jones publicly and he has shown he can get the job done in the past, signs point towards Ryan Neal potentially working his way back into the lineup alongside Quandre Diggs in the near future if he can't step up his level of play. Now fully healthy after missing most of camp and the entire preseason with a high ankle sprain, he logged a season-high 37 defensive snaps against the Lions, with a portion of those coming at the expense of Jones.
Neal didn't necessarily play well in his first extended action of the season and allowed a pair of touchdowns in coverage on Sunday, but the former undrafted signee out of Southern Illinois shined stepping in for Adams each of the past two seasons, contributing 93 tackles, two interceptions, and six pass breakups while starting nine games. Based on comments from Carroll, he hopes to continue giving him chances to get involved in coming weeks, hinting that a change at strong safety may be on the horizon.
“I really think that he’s going to continue. I talked to him just before this game about this week coming up. We had prepared him to play against Detroit, but I had told him that I wanted to try to expand his play time and give him more opportunities to do stuff," Carroll explained. "I just liked the guy on the field. He’s an aggressive, fiery, feisty dude and he hits people and seems to make things happen. So, I’m anxious to see if we can continue to grow his opportunities.”
Since Neal has played well as a spot starter in the past, it's possible such a changeup could pay dividends for the Seahawks and help turn the tide. At the same time, while he's a physical, aggressive player who carries a boulder on his shoulder after being cut multiple times by multiple organizations earlier in his career, he isn't near the caliber of player of Adams and the scheme isn't the same as it was the past two years, making it far from a guarantee he will be able to replicate that success.
In the event Neal can't get the job done or Seattle doesn't feel certain about his capabilities as an every down player instead of a situational defender, the team does have a few capable free agents to consider for reinforcements.
Among them, former All-Pro safety Landon Collins remains a free agent and possesses a similar skill set to Adams with 10.0 career sacks on his resume. He recently worked out for the New York Giants and though his coverage numbers have not been good in recent seasons with Washington, he could provide a solution that better fits the team's current scheme as a physical run defender with plus-blitzing skills.
It's also possible Seattle could consider bringing back Marquise Blair, a former second-round pick out of Utah who was released during final roster cuts in August and currently is on Carolina's practice squad. With that said, he was waived for a reason with Jones outplaying him in camp and the preseason, so that ship may have sailed given his lengthy injury history and inconsistent performance when healthy.
Regardless of what the team opts to do, Carroll and his staff have to keep all options on the table shaking up personnel as the Seahawks try to shore up one of the NFL's worst defenses. They may choose to stick with Jones a bit longer, but if he can't dramatically improve his performance, they will have no choice but to move a different direction either internally with Neal or outside the organization with a proven commodity such as Collins in quick order.
Baker’s is a neighborhood craft cocktail bar that feels more like a family gathering than a restaurant.
That being said, the restaurant is taking pandemic rules seriously and offers limited seating available on their patio and garden.
It’s recommended that diners make a same-day reservation if they’re opting to eat in. Phone lines open at 2 pm, two hours before Baker’s opens for the evening.
Whether you’re dining in or out at Baker’s, you need to try their cocktails. Each comes dressed with beautiful garnishes and taste so good that they’re mighty dangerous.
Choose to feast on an array of fancy snacks or go straight for the entrees. We love the sprouting kale rabe dip, Dungeness crab cakes, and cheese and meat platter.
For Eric Anderson, the creation of a dish often starts with a single spark of an idea. Sometimes the spark catches immediately, others it sits smoldering until suddenly the idea ignites.
"I just wanted to have a menu staple featuring crab. I love Dungeness crab and that was kind of how the call got rolling," said Anderson, the chef/owner of Samara. "I didn't realize it would be the signature dish necessarily. We wanted something that could be any season, that didn't necessarily have a highlight moment."
Born outside of Chicago and trained at top restaurants in Portland, then Seattle, Anderson opened Samara in Seattle's Sunset Hill neighborhood back in 2019.
"This is a sophisticated but casual restaurant serving organic vegetables and organic wines, sustainable seafood and heritage breed animals from the Northwest area," said Anderson. "The reality is we've made a special occasion spot. People come for anniversaries, birthdays, celebrations and date nights. We see lots of couples having nice meals together, and that's nice for us."
The restaurant does have an electric oven and induction burners, but during service, all of the cooking is done using a wood fire.
"I enjoy the live fire aspect of it. I like building the fire. I like watching it burn. I like the way it smells. I think people gathering around the fire, it's a source of comfort. It's a source of warmth. It really helps this space set a mood," said Anderson.
The focus on fire and insistence on using hyper-local ingredients provide Anderson and his team the guardrails for a dish, the constraints for creation. From there, they put it together like a puzzle.
"Some of these dishes we'll spend — we try two versions each season typically, and it'll take two to three years for the dish — we won't even put some of them on [the menu]. We'll think of things and work and work and work at it, but it doesn't make the cut for whatever reason. Then, several years later we'll revisit it and the magic finally shows up. Other dishes come almost immediately. I don't know why. That's just part of it," said Anderson.
That magic is apparent in a dish that may be Samara's signature. The menu explains it simply, "buttered Dungeness crab, charred rice cake, tarragon." It's a description that belies the complexity of each component.
"We have clean Dungeness crab meat warmed in a giant pool of butter. We make a seasoned rice cake and we char it on the grill. We pile the crab on top. We make a puree of tarragon and parsley, then the real magic is the crab reduction. We build a crab sauce and reduce it like a demi or double-demi. We have just a few drops of that [on the plate]. So, that bumps the [crab flavor] way up," said Anderson.
Each part of the dish adds flavor, texture and color. Individual components that, together, form an ideal bite.
"The rice cake is going to be just a little bit crunchy. You'll have good smoke flavor, but a light smoke flavor. Then you just have all the richness of the crab. That crab stock adds just a little bit of saltiness to [the dish] and the tarragon keeps everything from feeling too rich and heavy. So it feels comforting. It also feels light, but it's filling," said Anderson.
That dish tells a story on its own, but it's also a chapter in a larger story, one Anderson is sharing each day through the menu at Samara.
"I hope we're telling my version of living in the Northwest, my experiences in other restaurants and the chefs I learned from, the way I see things now and the way I like to present the bounty of the Northwest," said Anderson. "When I say 'bounty of the Northwest,' I always feel a little corny, but that's the reality of it. This is an amazing growing region."
