No one really expected Jamal Adams to play last season, at least not as an inside linebacker. Yet, the former Seattle Seahawks Second-Team All-Pro safety joined former head coach Pete Carroll with the Las Vegas Raiders, and there he was. More surprisingly, Adams wasn't terrible.
One might wonder if Adams would have gotten a chance to return to the NFL had Carroll not been working for, as it turned out, one season in Vegas. The coach likes to bring in former players, just as he did in Seattle, and there is a uniqueness to that kind of loyalty. The approach doesn't necessarily make his team better, though.
But without Carroll around, as he was fired by the Raiders after the team went 3-14, one might wonder if Adams will get another chance in the league. He remains a free agent after minicamps, and will any team want to take a chance on an oft-injured, undersized safety-turned-inside linebacker who will turn 31 years old early in the coming season? Maybe Adams could simply choose to retire.
Former Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams could be looking at the end
He almost certainly isn't going to be signed to be a safety again. His decent coverage days are years behind him at this point. The most ironic part is that for the first time since 2018, Adams appeared in all of his team's regular season games last season.
No one should expect the player to suddenly be healthier as he ages after such a long injury history. His staying available last year could mean a team potentially interested in Adams' services is more leery of signing him, due to the assumption that he will revert to getting hurt and missing a bunch of games again.
Recently on X, Adams posted a message about something, and it likely didn't have anything to do with his future football prospects, but it might portend his end either way. Basically, some things are not meant to be.
Some shiiii just ain’t meant to be.
— Jamal Adams (@Prez) June 13, 2026
What is obvious is that he isn't going to return to the Seattle Seahawks. One key reason is that head coach Mike Macdonald's scheme requires his off-ball linebackers to be good in coverage, and Jamal Adams hasn't been in that facet of the game for many years.
Adams also doesn't fit the mold of the kind of edge rusher Macdonald would want. He can't set a hard edge against the run against offensive tackles, and his ability to chase down opposing quarterbacks has diminished.
Perhaps Pete Carroll did Adams a favor last season, though. The former safety played a new position, showing he is willing to make changes, and he did decently. The hope from the player has to be that some team saw that and is willing to bring him in as a backup, assuming Adams still wants to play in the NFL.
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