3 free agents Seahawks should sign to replace Jamal Adams
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks will once again be without Jamal Adams for an indefinite amount of time. Seattle needs to find a replacement for him as quickly as possible.
Ryan Neal has replaced Adams in recent seasons after Adams has missed time due to one of his million ailments and Neal hasn’t been awful. But Neal is also dinged up currently and is more of a replacement player than a long-term starter.
The Seahawks also need to ask a financial question: Assuming Jamal Adams misses the rest of the season (and while this is just a guess that seems quite likely) and he already gets hurt every year, should Seattle take the long view and replace Adams permanently beginning in 2023?
Releasing Adams would mean a dead cap hit of $21,330,000 in 2023. That might mean keeping Adams no matter what. Or maybe Seattle sees a roster spot as more valuable than money for a team that will have quite a bit of cap space in 2023. So who should replace Adams sooner than later?
Three potential replacements for the Seahawks for Jamal Adams
Current Buccaneers safety Keanu Neal
Keanu Neal is capable of playing all over the back end of the defense. He played free safety for the Falcons from 2016 through 2020 but spent some time at strong safety as well. Then in 2021, Neal played a linebacker position for the Dallas Cowboys. The reason for this is Neal has an attacking mentality and can sometimes get pressure on opposing quarterbacks and has the speed to do so.
Neal started just five games for Dallas last year but still was in on 72 tackles and had 4 tackles for loss. But Dallas didn’t want Neal back in 2022 and he signed with the Buccaneers. But with Tampa Bay, Neal isn’t a starter and should be able to be acquired in a trade.
So yes, I am cheating a bit with Neal here as he isn’t a free agent until next year. But that’s important because it means Tampa Bay doesn’t have him long-term in their plans. The Seahawks currently have two fifth-round picks in the 2023 draft and a sixth-rounder. Seattle should offer the sixth-rounder to the Bucs to bring in Neal to replace Adams.