Jamal Adams’ long anticipated release this week ended the worst trade/signing of John Schneider’s 14-year tenure in Seattle.

We actually had written off Adams 18 months ago, when he suffered a season-ending quadriceps injury in the 2022 season opener against Russell Wilson and the Broncos. So, for us, his release this week was just the official word on what we expected to happen ever since that Monday night game.

This is the result some feared from the day in July 2020 that Schneider sent two first-rounders and more to the Jets for the All-Pro safety. Those people hated the trade and dreaded the extension that was soon to come, suspecting it would be a waste of money. They were right.

Schneider still defends the deal as the way to go amid the pandemic in 2020. He is annoyed that people are criticizing the trade, which cost Seattle the 23rd and 86th picks in 2021 and the 10th pick in 2022.

When the deal was made, our take was this: It’s a ton to give up for a safety. In most cases, you would say way too much. But there are extenuating circumstances all around this one – from the team that made the deal to the year it was made.

On his radio show Thursday, Schneider said he was “a little tired” of people ripping the trade and he recounted the situation: “It was the Covid year. We were picking (23rd), and in order to go from where we were and trying to (move) up to pick a guy like Jamal, who was picked top 10 (sixth in 2017), you’ve got to give up another first-round pick the next year.”

We said the deal should turn out to be the equivalent of about the 13^th overall pick, based on where the Seahawks were typically drafting and the combined value of those positions. Schneider also assumed both picks would be in the 20s, not foreseeing a 7-10 season in 2021 that would turn the second first-rounder into the 10^th overall.

The other part of it was that the Seahawks already had decided to bail out of the 2021 draft because they knew it was going to be a mess due to Covid.

We assumed that was the plan when the trade was made: Another reason Schneider might have been fine giving up two picks in the 2021 draft: It will be pretty watered down. Many NCAA leagues are playing conference-only schedules next season, and some might not end up playing at all. You can expect a lot fewer underclassmen to come out in 2021, under these conditions. So the 2021 draft figures to be pretty weak – and the Hawks likely considered that in making this deal.

After the 2020 season, Seahawks personnel lieutenant Trent Kirchner confirmed that was their thinking.

“John pretty much nailed that one,” Kirchner said. “That was talked about when we did it. It was discussed in terms of, ‘The amount of information we’ll have next year, who knows what it’s going to be?’ So looking back at it, you’re looking at Jamal Adams as your first-round pick, you’re elated.”

Adams lived up to the trade for most of 2020. After his first game, we wrote: Adams was everywhere, leading the Hawks in tackles and making plays behind the scrimmage line. He showed to be every bit of the All-Pro the Hawks thought they were getting in that July blockbuster with the Jets.

After a big first season that featured 9.5 sacks but also got him a bit battered, the Seahawks paid him a deal worth $17.5 million a year – a move everyone knew Schneider planned to make after all of the picks he had invested. But it was all downhill after that, thanks to injuries and an inability to find the best role for Adams.

When he went on IR with a shoulder injury in December 2021, we wrote: We won’t disagree with anyone who hated the trade. It was a major overpay for even a healthy All-Pro, as we said at the time. But Adams has not been healthy in either season with Seattle, and plenty of people are calling it one of Seattle’s all-time bust trades (compounded by the big extension).

We waited to judge the deal until seeing Adams play this season. We wanted to see how he did after a full year in (Pete) Carroll’s defense. After a rough start in which he reportedly asked to be used differently, he had settled in and played well over the past month. But now he’s done – and we’ll have to wait until 2023 to make the final judgment.

Well, judgment did not have to wait that long. He suffered a torn quad in the 2022 season opener against Wilson and the Broncos, and he hobbled through nine inconsequential games in 2023. We mostly ignored his presence on the team for the past two years, knowing the Hawks would end up cutting him after the 2023 season.

On his radio show Thursday, Schneider summed up Adams’ time in Seattle: “He came in here, our coaches did a great job with him, he had 9.5 sacks, goes to the Pro Bowl, is completely disruptive. He comes back (in 2021), he’s having a good season, gets hurt. Then he gets hurt again — like really, really bad injury. So I feel bad for him.”

In September 2023, Adams said he considered retiring after that 2022 season. He got hurt again in 2023 and ended up playing in just 34 games in four seasons and costing Seattle $50 million and those draft picks.

The consolation in losing the 10th selection in 2021 was that Schneider gained the ninth pick in that draft (plus a lot more) off the Wilson trade in 2022.

In the end though, much like the Percy Harvin debacle 10 years ago, Adams turned out to be a busted gamble. The overpay turned out to be worse than it first appeared and Adams now goes down as the worst deal Schneider has ever made – whether he wants to admit it or not.