Quandre Diggs is now a Seattle Seahawk. There’s little doubt in many media members’ minds that this was the trade of the year. John Schneider continues to exude the confidence you’d expect from someone endowed with a larger than life ego in trading for the best Diggs available. With his aggressiveness, Schneids has clearly penetrated the conversation for Executive of the Year, and one more splashy move could very well turn him into the odds-on favorite for the award.

Could this also possibly be the best trade in the PCJS era? Let’s take a highly scientific dive into some trades that could potentially come close, starting all the way back at the very beginning, back when the Seahawks made moves that didn’t always include their first-round pick.

Acquired: Marshawn Lynch

Traded: 2011 4th round pick

Sure, without this trade, the Seahawks wouldn’t have their greatest rush of all time. They wouldn’t have their second greatest rush of all time. We wouldn’t have such fond relationships with Skittles. We wouldn’t just be here so we don’t get fined. We wouldn’t know how to run through a motherfucker’s face.

But you know what else we wouldn’t have?

“Should’ve run it with Marshawn.”

This one is close, but the pain of XLIX means this one can’t be as good as the Diggs trade.

Acquired: Percy Harvin

Traded: 2013 1st round pick, 2013 7th round pick, 2014 3rd round pick

Percy Harvin punched Golden Tate in the face the night before the Super Bowl. That’s the kind of locker room distraction that’s most likely to blame for Seattle failing to shut out the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. The Vikings, meanwhile, selected All Pro cornerback Xavier Rhodes with the 2013 first rounder they received. This one is out.

Acquired: Jimmy Graham, 2015 4th round pick

Traded: Max Unger, 2015 4th round pick

The Seahawks asked Jimmy Graham to run block, which as a tight end, is at least half of his job, and were rewarded with literally the worst rushing offense in NFL history. Also this:

The Jimmy Graham touchdown drop play on 4th down pic.twitter.com/CHrII5RjKl — Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 22, 2017

Giving up a first rounder for the shell of Jimmy Graham? Can’t even touch this Diggs move. (Editor’s Note: Dan what the fuck)

Acquired: Sheldon Richardson

Traded: Jermaine Kearse, 2018 2nd round pick

This one was a great trade in the moment, one that some even called a Super Bowl move. Seattle even managed to hang on to their first-round pick, and let’s be honest, the loss of Jermaine Kearse hurt far more emotionally than it did on the football field. Unfortunately, this one came in the aforementioned year without capable rushing, and the Seahawks failed to make the playoffs. The team then, for some inexplicable reason, didn’t re-sign Richardson, despite the fact that he only cost the Vikings $8 million the following year. If Sheldon were still here, he might beat out the Diggs trade, but alas.

Acquired: 2018 5th round pick (Michael Dickson)

Traded: Michael Bennett

Who doesn’t love to trade away a productive 5-tech for a pick that would turn into a punter that’s already washed up after one good season? Especially when that hole on the defensive line has already been filled with such great performances by early-round selections Malik McDowell, Rasheem Green, and L.J. Collier.

Michael Bennett did nothing wrong, and trading him away was a travesty the likes of which we may never recover from.

Acquired: Jadeveon Clowney

Traded: Jacob Martin, Barkevious Mingo, 2020 3rd round pick

This is the one that really approaches the impact of the Diggs trade. The Texans got absolutely fleeced here, selling a great pass rusher and elite run defender for sixth-round pick Jacob Martin, a late third-round pick, and a linebacker that was about to be cut anyway. I’d give this one the edge if it weren’t for the fact that the Seahawks are still a bottom tier pass-rushing team, and for the fact that they’re going to let him walk after this season a la Sheldon Richardson. (Editor’s Note: Dan what the fuck II)

Also, Seattle lost the best name on the team in Barkevious Mingo. You can’t lose such a glorious name and call that the best move of a generation.

Acquired: Quandre Diggs

Traded: 2020 5th round pick

The Seahawks upgraded their worst defensive position — which also might be the most important to their scheme — for just a fifth-round pick. I know, John Schneider has hit some home runs in the fifth round in the past, but he is also going to turn their first-rounder in 2020 into about eight new fifth-rounders and an elite gunner. Giving up a fifth is nothing for this team.

And how much of an upgrade is Diggs over Seattle’s current free safeties? For one thing, he’s great at stopping the run, which means Pete Carroll is already rearing to start him this Sunday. He’s also clearly a better coverage safety than Tedric Thompson, as noted in a film breakdown at Pride of Detroit:

“He is not the stand-out strong safety he looked like he could become at some points last season,” says Mansur Shaheen. “But he is great run defender and is not a total mess in coverage.”

If there’s one thing Pete Carroll can do, it’s turn a guy who is not a total mess in coverage into a Pro Bowl defensive back. Diggs could very well be the best safety in Seattle since Earl Thomas. Will he exceed Thomas’ level of play in center field for the Seahawks? We can’t say for sure until we see Carroll coach him up a bit, but there’s no way to rule it out.

This is clearly the best trade the Seahawks have made this decade.