Circumstances can change quickly in the NFL.
Less than three years ago, safety Jamal Adams signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Seahawks. Now, months after being released with time remaining on that contract, Adams has found himself on the other side of the professional football salary scale.
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Adams will receive a salary of $1.125 million per year, with a signing bonus of $167,000.
It’s surprising, but it’s not. Adams has played in just 22 games over the past three seasons. His last full season came in 2018, his second year with the Jets.
A torn quadriceps tendon he suffered in the first game of the 2022 season left him in a cast for 20 weeks. He has said he considered retirement after that injury. He eventually fought back and played in nine games last year.
Adams, a three-time Pro Bowler and 2019 All-Pro, has shown he can play at a high level. He also attacks the game with a reckless abandon that has tested, and at times exceeded, the limits of human anatomy.
This year he gets the chance to pull himself together, in the hope that he can achieve something more important in 2025.
The clock is ticking. He turns 29 in October. And even if he stays healthy and makes a fourth Pro Bowl in his first year with the Titans, teams will likely be skeptical that he can make it through 2025 and beyond.
But that’s why Adams pushed so hard for a second contract from the Seahawks after he didn’t get one from the Jets following his All-Pro season. He explained it at the press conference announce the deal.
His father, George, saw his professional football career cut short by injuries. Jamal wanted protection and got it.
Now he’s not playing for the money, he’s playing because he loves the game. For the league minimum, a lot of guys would leave. A lot of people would say Adams should probably do the same. He clearly has more work to do and he’ll be around for at least another year.