Seahawks’ needs at safety, linebacker point to possible return of Jamal Adams

SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks ended the NFL draft without taking a safety. They took just one linebacker, UTEP’s Tyrice Knight with the 118th overall pick.

Now that the draft is over, both are positions where the Seahawks could use some depth and could consider veteran options.

One free agent who remains an option, league sources say, is former Seahawk Jamal Adams, who could help at both spots.

Adams was cut by the Seahawks in March in a move that saved them more than $6 million in cap space for the 2024 season. Adams remains unsigned, as does fellow veteran safety Quandre Diggs, who was cut on the same day.

Seahawks president of football operations John Schneider said after Adams was released that the door remained open for his return.

League sources say the Seahawks have kept in touch with Adams and remain in contact with him, and that the interest in a possible return is regarded as legitimate.

That doesn’t mean anything is imminent.

Sources said the San Francisco 49ers are among other teams that have kept in touch with Adams, so the Seahawks could have some competition for the former All-Pro safety, who is still just 28 years old.

Any contract for Adams would obviously be nowhere near as costly as his previous deal, a four-year pact signed in August 2021 that was due to pay him up to $72 million.

Adams earned $46.4 million on that contract. He was cut after injuries limited him to playing just 34 games in four seasons in Seattle and only 10 the last two seasons after suffering a knee/quadriceps injury in the first game of the year in 2022.

Adams has continued to work out in anticipation of a return to the NFL this season.

While Adams was a target of frustration for Seahawks fans as the injuries piled up, Schneider has defended Adams and the trade to get him in 2020 in recent months.

“He came in here, our coaches did a great job with him, he had 9.5 sacks (in 2020), goes to the Pro Bowl, is completely disruptive,” Schneider said in an appearance on Seattle Sports 710 in late March. “He comes back the next year, he’s having a good season, gets hurt. Then he gets hurt again (in the first game in 2022 against Denver) – like really, really bad injury. So I feel bad for him.”

In another appearance on Seattle Sports 710 in late March when Schneider was asked if the door was still open for Adams to return he noted, “When we acquired him that’s what we were thinking, he was a WILL (weakside) linebacker.”

That seemed to raise the idea that if Adams returned it could be as a weakside linebacker.

That’s the role Jordyn Brooks played last year, and that free-agent signee Jerome Baker – who signed a one-year deal worth up to $7 million – is expected to play in 2024. They signed free agent Tyrel Dodson to play middle linebacker in place of the departed Bobby Wagner.

New head coach Mike Macdonald said Saturday the linebacker spots could be fairly interchangeable.

“That’s the plan right now,” he said of using Dodson in the middle and Baker on the weakside. “But what’s cool about both those guys is they both played both spots, so that’s something that you might not have seen in our scheme in years past that you might see with our guys is based on what we ask them to do, any particular call they could end up switching spots, which provides some versatility for us. So we’ll see how that shakes out.”

If Adams were to return, such a scheme might allow opportunities to be used at weakside linebacker and take advantage of his pass-rushing skills.

Macdonald said Knight will start out at weakside linebacker but could also be used in the middle.

The Seahawks will need more than one other player who can play inside linebacker. Jon Rhattigan signed a restricted free-agent tender and projects as the other backup inside. His deal for $2.985 million salary is not guaranteed.

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Others on the roster who can play inside linebacker include Patrick O’Connell and Drake Thomas. They are second-year players with little experience.

As for safety, many expected the Seahawks might take one in the draft. The only additions to the secondary were cornerbacks Nehemiah Pritchett and D.J. James, each of Auburn.

The Seahawks signed free agent Rayshawn Jenkins – a seven-year veteran who started all 34 games for Jacksonville the past two seasons – to a two-year contract worth up to $12 million to team with returnee Julian Love (who is entering the final year of his deal) as the starting safeties in place of Diggs and Adams.

They also signed veteran free agent K’Von Wallace, who has 19 starts in four NFL seasons, including 12 last year when he split time with the Cardinals (five starts) and Titans (seven). His one-year contract is for just $1.5 million with only $205,000 guaranteed, hardly guaranteeing him a spot on the roster.

Their other safeties are Coby Bryant – who is listed as a cornerback and safety – Jerrick Reed II, Ty Okada and Jonathan Sutherland.

Reed is still recovering from an ACL injury suffered on Nov. 19 against the Rams, and it remains unclear when he will be available to play.

After the draft, Schneider was asked if not taking a safety indicated confidence in what the team has on its roster at that spot.

“To a certain extent, yes, because our grading scale represents that, what our team looks like and so, yeah, it’s a good group right now,’’ he said.

But with only Wallace as experienced backup (most of Bryant’s snaps have come as a nickel cornerback) and a coach in Macdonald who has earned a reputation for varying his defensive alignments based on the opponent and situation, there could be a way to fit Adams into things.

Schneider’s vocal defenses of Adams and the trade in recent months – and that the two sides have continued to have contact since his release – seems to indicate there are no hard feelings that would preclude a return.

Speaking to reporters at the NFL combine in February, Schneider praised the way Adams dealt with the challenges of his recovery from a knee injury last season that held him to just nine games.

“It was a rough year for him,’’ Schneider said. “… I’m sure Jamal would tell you guys it was hard for him. He fought his tail off to get back. He was constantly trying to be out there, trying to be active and working with the coaching staff, working with the trainers, strength and conditioning guys. I would expect him to be much healthier next year, yes.’’

Whether that return to health leads him back to Seattle remains to be seen, but it can’t be ruled out.