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While the Seattle Seahawks are getting a fresh start under head coach Mike Macdonald, the team may bring back safety Jamal Adams.
Adams, who signed a $70.5 million contract with the Seahawks in 2021, was released ahead of free agency. The Seattle Times Bob Condotta reported on Monday, April 29, “The Seahawks have kept in touch with Adams and remain in contact with him… the interest in a possible return is regarded as legitimate.”
“That doesn’t mean anything is imminent,” Condotta noted, as the team’s AFC West rival is also in the mix for the polarizing star. “Sources said the San Francisco 49ers are one of a handful of teams who have kept in touch with Adams, so the Seahawks could have some competition for the former All-Pro safety, who is still just 28 years old.”
After the Seahawks signed safeties K’Von Wallace and Rayshawn Jenkins, the door for Adams’ return seemed shut. During Schneider’s weekly appearance on Seattle Sports on March 21, however, he mulled over bringing the three-time Pro Bowler back, but as a weakside linebacker.
Financially speaking, Adams’ return would be a surprise. While Seattle saved $6.1 million against the 2024 cap, Seattle absorbed $20.83 million in dead money with his immediate release. If Seattle brings Adams back, his contract “would obviously be nowhere near as costly as his previous deal,” Condotta noted.
The Seahawks Only Drafted 1 Linebacker in the NFL Draft
Of the eight selections made in the 2024 NFL draft, the Seahawks selected zero safeties. They drafted one linebacker, UTEP’s Tyrice Knight. The Athletic’s Mike Dugar wrote, “The 6-foot, 233-pound Knight projects as a one-dimensional player.”
Last season, Knight registered 140 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, and 7 passes defensed. While Knight is a force against the run, perhaps, Macdonald sees Adams helping against the pass.
Former quarterback turned Seahawks analyst Brock Huard commented on Adams switching roles last month. “There’s still some possibility maybe at linebacker (with) Jamal Adams,” Huard told Seattle Sports.
“If there’s really nobody else out there in this market that’s willing to take a swing (on Adams), we know Mike Macdonald in his past has taken swings at veteran guys and gotten a lot of production out of them… They certainly know that body over the last four years and the injury history associated with it.”
“In this draft, if you don’t find a linebacker and Jamal Adams is still out there and unsigned and is willing to play that, I don’t think that’s 100% off the table,” Huard concluded.
During his four-year tenure in Seattle, Adams missed 34 of 68 possible regular-season games due to various injuries. He recorded 9.5 sacks in his first season (2020) and zero in the past three years. Between Adams’ struggling performance and questionable off-the-field antics, bringing him back seems questionable at best.
After Jordyn Brooks and Bobby Wagner left in free agency, Seattle was signed former Buffalo Bills linebacker Tyrel Dodson and former Miami Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker.
Seahawks News: Mike Macdonald Discussed Switching Up the LBs
Speaking to reporters after the draft concluded on April 27, Macdonald addressed his plan for the linebackers on the team.
Dodson is set as the middle linebacker and Baker on the weakside. ”That’s the plan right now,” Macdonald said. “But what’s cool about both those guys is they both played both spots so that’s something that you might not have seen in our scheme in years past that you might see with our guys is based on what we ask them to do, any particular call they could end up switching spots, which provides some versatility for us. So we’ll see how that shakes out.”
Macdonald said the same goes for Knight, although it will be a process. “He hasn’t done all the things we’re going to ask him to do schematically, but nobody ever does (in college),” he said of the rookie. “So, you’re looking at how he moves and how he thinks and try to project it the best you can.”
Condotta noted, “Others on the roster who can play inside linebacker include Patrick O’Connell and Drake Thomas. They are second-year players with little experience.”
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