Jamal Adams' Future: Does IR Means Beginning of End with Seattle Seahawks?

Jamal Adams' Future: Does IR Means Beginning of End with Seattle Seahawks?

RENTON, Wash. - When the Seattle Seahawks traded multiple first-round picks and additional compensation to the New York Jets for Jamal Adams before the start of the 2020 season, the organization believed they were adding a dynamic young game-changing talent to their defense.

With his record-breaking first season in Seattle being the exception to the rule, however, Adams hasn't come close to meeting expectations due to his inability to stay healthy. With his ailing knee not improving enough to perform to his usual standards, after initially being ruled out against the Steelers this weekend, the team opted to place him on injured reserve, ending his season and potentially taking the first step towards moving on from the fragile defender.

Struggling to bounce back from surgery to repair a torn quad tendon that cost him most of the 2022 season, Adams returned to practice on Wednesday with hopes of being able to suit up again. Both the player and coach Pete Carroll maintained optimism that a couple weeks of rest for his troublesome knee would help him turn the corner and finish the season.

Unfortunately for the Seahawks and Adams, the time off wasn't enough for him to rebound as hoped, putting the team in an unenviable spot.

“He did try to get out there and go, and we’re listing him as out. He’s not going to be able to make it back this week," Carroll said of Adams' health. "He’s doing everything he can, it’s just really frustrating that he can’t quite get over the hump. We declared it already, just talked to him about it, and he feels like this is the right thing for this week.”

Playing at less than 100 percent coming off a severe torn quad tendon injury, the Seahawks decided to shut down Jamal Adams for the rest of the season, putting his future up in the air / © Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Following Friday's practice, Carroll didn't hint at the possibility of Adams being shut down for the rest of the season. But only one week earlier, he didn't broach the topic, suggesting such a move remained a viable possibility if the player didn't demonstrate significant progress.

Sure enough, amid a flurry of roster moves on Saturday, Seattle made the difficult decision to place Adams on injured reserve to open up a roster spot for the final two weeks and beyond. While he theoretically would be eligible to return if the team made a deep playoff run and advanced to the NFC Championship game, his season looks to be all but finished, putting his future with the franchise under the microscope.

"We had taken a couple of weeks off, and we would see how that helped him and if it would, and it helped him enough to get on the practice field and he could get around," Carroll added. "But it’s just not up to the level that he can play at, and he knows that and we know that, so we talked it through. That’s why we settled on this, listing him as out.”

With him officially out for the next two games, Adams will have been sidelined for 29 out of 51 regular season games since signing a massive four-year extension worth up to $72 million in 2021. Missing time due to a torn shoulder labrum, the aforementioned quad tendon tear, and the resulting knee soreness, that equals nearly 60 percent of the Seahawks games during that span, illustrating his durability woes.

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When Adams has been healthy enough to suit up, his play has been inconsistent at best. After setting an NFL record for defensive backs with 9.5 sacks in 2020 and earning Second-Team All-Pro distinction, he hasn't registered a single sack and has produced just five total quarterback hits over the past three seasons, failing to make much of an impact as a pass rusher.

Meanwhile, his problems in coverage have frequently put Adams under fire, including drawing rare public criticism from Carroll for a blown assignment allowing Deebo Samuel to get past him for a 54-yard touchdown in a Week 14 loss to the 49ers. That mistake came on the heels of allowing the game-winning touchdown reception to tight end Jake Ferguson one week earlier in a Thursday night loss to the Cowboys.

Adams hasn't played since those two subpar outings and in his absence, Julian Love has thrived alongside Quandre Diggs in Seattle's secondary. Picking off quarterback Jalen Hurts twice in the fourth quarter, he captured NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts in a 20-17 win over Philadelphia in Week 15, maximizing on his opportunity to show what he can do in the starting lineup.

Making matters even worse for Adams, he hasn't helped his cause with erratic behavior when he isn't in uniform. Between being caught in the middle of a screaming match with an independent neurologist on the sideline in Week 4 and making a childish rebuttal towards a Jets reporter on social media, he has drawn far more attention for his antics off the field than his play between the lines, leaving Carroll to have to clean up the mess from a PR standpoint.

Combing through Carroll's remarks in recent weeks, it's tough to necessarily gauge where he and the Seahawks stand regarding Adams' future.

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Given his lack of productivity and injuries coupled with his surly attitude and lack of remorse for his questionable off field actions, it would be shocking if the Seahawks haven't had internal discussions about cutting ties with Adams this spring. Doing so would be an expensive divorce, as the team would have to absorb a $20 million dead cap hit with a pre-June 1 release and only open up $6 million in salary cap relief for 2024.

But while that's a hefty price tag to pay for a player not to play for you, Seattle appears to already have a quality replacement on the roster at a fraction of the cost in Love, who offers more positional versatility with a background playing both safety spots as well as nickel cornerback. As for the dollars saved by cutting Adams, the team could re-invest the money in re-signing defensive tackle Leonard Williams or free agency to address another need.

Over the past few weeks, Carroll has almost seemed to be massaging his words in an effort to construct a soft landing spot with the understanding a major move could be coming down the road with Adams, carefully crafting his messaging without looking beyond the present.

On the other hand, Carroll has brought up a challenging rehab process for Adams numerous times, lauding the player for making it back onto the field this season coming off such a severe injury and indicating he still was in the midst of the recovery process. As an organization, especially considering his contract was restructured in September and the money still owed to him, the Seahawks may want to see how he responds to another offseason before making any rash decisions.

Regardless of what direction Seattle chooses to go after the season ends, the blockbuster trade for Adams has been a monumental disaster to this point. If Carroll and the front office truly believe he can return to All-Pro form with more time distancing him from his devastating injury, it's possible the team will bring him back for a fifth season hoping he can stay healthy and play near the value of his contract rather than absorb a massive dead cap hit.

But at the same time, smart franchises don't keep doubling down on mistakes and an argument can be made the Seahawks have already committed that cardinal sin trying to make things work with Adams. While the team doesn't need to make a choice on the matter until March, signs have been pointing towards a split and it wouldn't be a surprise at all if they take that course of action to turn the page on a trade that simply didn't pan out.