Jamal Adams Says His 'Plan Is to Retire' with Seahawks After Trade from Jets

Star safety Jamal Adams is hoping to spend the rest of his career with the Seattle Seahawks after being traded from the New York Jets this offseason. 

"My plan is to retire here," he said Thursday, per Omar Ruiz of NFL Network. 

Adams also said he doesn't expect to be handed a starting role and would earn it, and added that his desire to be traded over the past year doesn't mean he is the sort of player who is a locker room distraction:

The 24-year-old was traded to Seattle along with a 2022 fourth-round pick in exchange for veteran safety Bradley McDougald, first-round picks in 2021 and 2022 and a 2021 third-rounder. It followed several months of Adams indicating publicly he wanted to move on from New York. 

Despite his clear unhappiness in New York, Adams said several of his former teammates reached out to him following the trade. 

"They said they're going to miss me, they love me. And it's the same back," Adams told reporters Thursday. "I have no hate in my heart towards anyone—Joe (Douglas), Adam Gase, anyone. I wish them all well."

Adams is one of the best safeties in the NFL, and he'll be a major upgrade for the Seahawks at the position, though the price to acquire him was steep (and his eventual contract extension will be steeper). The two-time Pro Bowler and 2019 first-team All-Pro selection posted 75 tackles, 6.5 sacks, an interception, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a defensive touchdown last season. 

Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus graded Adams as the 32nd-best player in the NFL last season (and the fourth-best safety), calling him "one of the game's most versatile weapons on defense." He also wrote, "In a league that is trending ever more towards matchup problems on offense, Adams is one of a new breed of defender that can solve those problems on defense." 

He'll be looking to solve those problems in a Seahawks uniform for the rest of his career.