Call it a heist. Or a highway robbery. Or whatever term for thievery you prefer.

But what Seahawks general manager John Schneider did to the Texans on Saturday morning shouldn’t be legal. If David Stern was commissioner of the NFL (those living in Seattle are eternally grateful that he is not), he certainly would’ve stepped in to arrest him for stealing.

Quickly taking advantage of Houston, who currently doesn’t have a general manager, Schneider orchestrated a trade to land three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jadeveon Clowney without giving away substantial assets. In total, Seattle gave up a 2020 third round draft pick and reserve defensive ends Barkevious Mingo and Jacob Martin to finalize the deal.

There’s still a little bit of risk to this trade for the Seahawks. Clowney will arrive to play on a one-year franchise tag worth close to $16 million and isn’t eligible to sign a long-term deal until after the season ends, opening the door for him to leave as a free agent in March.

If the Seahawks would have been forced to give up more in terms of compensation, than such a risk factor would be a much bigger concern.

Once again exhibiting why he’s one of the premier general managers in the sport, however, Schneider knew the Texans had minimal leverage in this situation. Like a shark sniffing out blood in the water, he waited for the prime opportunity to pursue a deal while de facto general manager Bill O’Brien tried to make a deal with the Dolphins.

There was only one problem – a significant one at that. Clowney needed to sign his one-year tender before he could be dealt, leaving O’Brien’s hands tied. The former first overall pick had no interest being dealt to a rebuilding team in Miami and wouldn’t sign the tender unless he was going to be traded to one of his preferred destinations.

Schneider knew the Texans were stuck firmly between a rock and a hard place. And without a true general manager to be able to hold his/her own in negotiations, he finagled his way into landing a premier defensive end without giving away a boatload of draft picks or a key starter.

Early in the morning as trade discussions started heating up, Seattle was expected to have to part ways with at least one starter of its offensive line to acquire Clowney. Center Justin Britt and tackle Germain Ifedi were both reported as potential trade chips along with running back Rashaad Penny.

But Schneider didn’t have to include any of those players as part of the deal. The offensive line remained intact with four returning starters from last year’s playoff squad and the team didn’t have to surrender Penny either.

Instead, he somehow managed to get O’Brien to accept an offer including a mid-round pick, a promising, yet unproven situational rusher in Martin, and a veteran in Mingo who may not have made Seattle’s final roster.

In NFL terms, that’s as well executed of a burglary as you’ll ever find.

Looking at the big picture, Schneider ultimately swapped Frank Clark for Clowney while adding a first-round pick, a 2020 second-round pick while only parting ways with a third-round pick and two reserve defenders. That’s also not accounting for the additional selections afforded by trading down multiple times in April’s draft.

Unlike when Clark was dealt, Seattle also has much clearer financial clarity moving forward, which should increase the odds of Seattle offering Clowney a long-term deal if he meets expectations. With Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner under contract and close to $60 million in cap space to work with in 2020, they have the flexibility to do so.

It was masterfully done and serves as an excellent segway to remind everyone that Schneider miraculously has never been named Executive of the Year in nine prior seasons at the helm.

Trades can never be evaluated the day they happen and if Clowney battles injuries as he’s done throughout his career, then maybe this deal won’t look near as lopsided down the road.

But for now, this is easily the finest trade Schneider has ever made and the move to bolster the Seahawks pass rush has a chance to catapult the organization back into the discussion as a viable Super Bowl threat in 2019.