Seahawks Trade or Cut Jamal Adams? Truth About the Options

For now, the Seahawks’ move on Jamal Adams remains a trade that hasn’t yet worked … but might need more time before the final judgment is in.

The Seattle Seahawks paid a high price for Jamal Adams and for a handful of reasons, all involved still await the big payoff.

Well, except Jamal, that is. He’s getting paid. But you know what we mean.

In a sense, this is the “bizarro” version of the trading of Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. 

The Seahawks killed that one. The Adams trade, which saw Seattle trading away two first-round picks and a third-round pick to the Jets and then giving the gifted Adams a four-year, $70.6 million contract extension? Not so much.

All of this leads to understandable speculation about the future of Adams, an All-Pro safety when healthy. He is sadly not healthy yet. And while coach Pete Carroll continues to preach patience as Adams labors through another rehab, our colleague Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated believes Adams may be on the outs here.

The two Adams options? They could cut him. But there’s a problem. It’s been written that cutting Adams this offseason would free up around $8 million in 2023 cap space … which is true. But that “fuzzy math” omits that it would come with $24 million in dead money.

The net means the Seahawks would essentially be “paying the cap” $16 million for Adams to not play. That’s not cap-optimal…. Though, hey, if you know longer like the guy? Seattle ate it with Wilson for a year and then had a clean slate.

Or as has been suggested, they could trade him. But that idea seems even more untenable; Adams has played just 13 games over the past two years, with Seattle ready to rely on Quandre Diggs and Julian Love as its starting safety duo. … And Adams is due another $45 million in base salary over the next three years. 

The same reason that makes keeping him an issue exists when we wonder why anyone would trade for a $15 million APY question mark.

At this point, Carroll and general manager John Schneider might be smart to wait this out. Maybe Jamal Adams gets healthy and is once again dynamic. Or maybe he gets healthy and is later viewed as expendable. 

But today? Jamal Adams remains a trade that hasn’t yet worked … but might need more time before the final judgment is in.

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