Jamal Adams Rumors: Seahawks Willing to Let Star Play Out Contract, Use Franchise Tag
August 16, 2021
The Seattle Seahawks and star safety Jamal Adams don't appear to be close to agreeing on a long-term contract extension.
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the Seahawks made "a final offer to the fifth-year safety" last week, and "with no plans to budge, a league source tells PFT that the team is truly done negotiating with Adams. They believe [they’ve] made a fair and appropriate offer, and that if he doesn’t want to accept it, he can play out his option year and get franchise-tagged twice, for 2022 and 2023."
While Adams isn't holding out and has showed up for the team's training camp, he also isn't practicing amid contract negotiations.
Head coach Pete Carroll expects Adams to be in uniform and playing come Week 1:
Gregg Bell @gbellseattleAsked Pete Carroll how possible it is Jamal Adams doesn’t play in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Seahawks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Seahawks</a> opener Sept. 12 at Colts: “I can’t even imagine that.” <a href="https://twitter.com/thenewstribune?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thenewstribune</a> <a href="https://t.co/DVRmQsgRND">pic.twitter.com/DVRmQsgRND</a>
The Seahawks are in something of a catch-22 with Adams. On the one hand, they gave up two first-round picks, a third-round pick and safety Bradley McDougald to acquire him last summer. Giving up that many assets only to let him walk after two years would be a terrible miscalculation from the front office.
On the other, the NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported last month that Seattle was willing to make Adams the highest-paid safety in football, topping the four-year, $61 million deal Justin Simmons signed with the Denver Broncos. Within that reported context, the team choosing to draw a line in the sand makes more sense.
But Adams could make the argument that he shouldn't be classified as a standard safety. The 25-year-old had 83 tackles (11 for loss), 9.5 sacks, 14 quarterback hits, three passes deflected and a forced fumble in just 12 games last season.
How many safeties in football ever get anywhere close to that number of sacks?
The counterargument from Adams, then, might be that he plays like a linebacker as much as he does a safety for Seattle. The three-time Pro Bowler and 2109 first-team All-Pro selection might be looking at the three-year, $54 million deal his teammate Bobby Wagner is playing on and feeling as though he deserves to be paid in that neighborhood.
A long-term extension remains the logical outcome for both sides. But it sounds as though the Seahawks have reached their wit's end in these negotiations.