Getty The Seahawks have had a number of stars during the John Schneider-Pete Carroll era.
The Seattle Seahawks are being pushed to pull the plug on the Jamal Adams experiment as the star safety has battled injuries throughout his first three seasons in the Pacific Northwest. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox identified one player from each NFL team that should be traded before the start of the 2023 season and labeled Adams as a potential trade candidate for Seattle.
“The Seattle Seahawks have invested a lot into safety Jamal Adams,” Knox wrote on June 5, 2023. “They surrendered two first-round picks and a third-rounder along with safety Bradley McDougald to acquire Adams and a fourth-round pick from the Jets. They then gave Adams a then-record, four-year, $70 million contract extension.
“Two years after Adams signed his new deal, he remains the league’s third-highest-paid safety in terms of annual value. While he has three years left on his deal, Seattle should try to cut its losses now.”
The Seahawks Are Unlikely to Find a Realistic Trade Market for Jamal Adams
Even if the Seahawks wanted to deal Adams, the market for three-time Pro Bowler and his four-year, $70 million contract is likely minimal. Adams has three seasons remaining on his current deal and is slated to have an $11 million salary for 2023 that comes with an $18.1 million cap hit.
The Seattle defender has missed a combined 25 games over the last three seasons. Adams sustained a season-ending torn-quad injury during the Seahawks’ Week 1 victory over the Broncos.
When healthy, Adams has made a major impact on the Seattle defense with his biggest strength of disrupting the quarterback. During his first season with the Seahawks in 2020, Adams notched a career-high 9.5 sacks, 83 tackles, 14 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for loss, 3 tackles for loss and 1 forced fumble during 12 appearances. Adams has struggled to be the same force since his initial Seattle debut as the safety did not record a sack during the following season in 2021.
The Seahawks Can Release Jamal Adams in 2024 But Would Take a $14.2 Million Dead Cap Hit
Publicly, the Seahawks continue to maintain their desire for Adams to have a long-term future in Seattle. Yet, the Seahawks have made moves in recent months to ensure that the team has insurance behind Adams if the star is once again sidelined. Seattle signed free-agent safety Julian Love this offseason, but head coach Pete Carroll has publicly reinforced Adams’ role with the franchise.
“I know there’s some conversation that what we did with Julian, does that have some impact on Jamal or Quandre [Diggs] — it doesn’t,” Carroll said in March, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson. “We have a clear thought of what we’re going to do with our guys and how we want to play them and we feel very fortunate to have all our guys.”
Adams is heading into a pivotal season with the Seahawks as Seattle has more of a pathway to move on from the safety during the 2024 offseason. Seattle can release Adams next offseason and be free of his $16.5 million salary in 2024 and $17.5 million in 2025. This scenario still remains less than ideal as the Seahawks would take a $14.2 million dead cap hit with Adams’ release, per Spotrac.
“Since arriving in Seattle, Adams has been a glorified linebacker who has neither lived up to his trade price nor his contract,” Knox added. “Seattle might not get a big return for Adams following two serious injuries, but it could create $11 million in 2023 cap space while dumping the final three years of this particular financial albatross.”
