Seahawks sign Julian Love and what that could mean about Jamal Adams

The Seattle Seahawks are reportedly signing safety Julian Love. Love started 16 games for the Giants in 2022 so what does his signing mean for Jamal Adams? It seems weird that Love would go from a full-time starter to being a backup with Seattle.

The Giants seemed to want Love to return. According to Giants beat writer Pat Leonard, New York even offered Love a bit more money initially than he ended up signing with Seattle. The deal with Seattle is for two years and a maximum of $12 million. That’s good money but it isn’t exactly the kind of money that is going to break a team. New York had the money and supposedly offered it to Love, but Love chose to leave.

The question is what the Seahawks were telling Love during negotiations. Of course, general manager John Schneider is very unlikely to tell someone that he would guarantee them a starting spot. Seattle loves to see players compete for jobs. But Love signing seems to imply that maybe Jamal Adams isn’t close to being ready to play football again.

Does the Seahawks signing of Julian Love mean Jamal Adams is nowhere near ready?

Adams, the oft-injured strong safety, hurt his leg in Week 1 of the 2022 season and missed the rest of the season. He is currently rehabbing the injury, but there is no timetable for his return. Was Love simply signed as depth or he is expecting to come in and start right away?

Love is an excellent tackler and missed just 3.9 percent of his attempted tackles in 2022. He finished with 124 tackles with 6 of those being tackles for loss. He also defended 5 passes and had 2 interceptions. Love will turn just 25 years old on March 19th so he should have a number of years left to play. If he had signed a one-year deal it might have made more sense for him as he could prove again how good he could be with the Seahawks and then be a free agent next offseason with a chance to earn even more money.

Or maybe Love signing for two seasons means the Seahawks don’t expect anything out of Adams in 2023 and then will release Adams after the season or with a post-June 1st designation and Love will have a chance to be the long-term starter in Seattle. It isn’t the signing itself that should be concerning to Seahawks fans who are also Jamal Adams fans, but that Julian Love’s deal is for two years.