It might feel like to 12s that former Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams last played for the team several seasons ago. In truth, it was only last season. Since then, Adams has been released by Seattle, released by the Tennessee Titans, and signed to the practice squad of the Detroit Lions. He has rarely played for anyone in 2024.
He is still only 29 years old but has been injured so much that his body is likely nearer to 40 rather than 30. He has been washed up for some time. He missed more games for the Seahawks in his last three seasons with the team than he played. And when he played, he wasn't very good.
This all followed a seemingly massively important trade of Adams from the New York Jets to the Seahawks in 2020. At the time, Adams had already been an All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl. He was young enough to be ascending as a player. He even had 9.5 sacks for Seattle in his first year. He would never have a sack again after that.
Jamal Adams admits he now regrets being traded to the Seattle Seahawks
The safety wanted out of New York. He was on a bad team that was years (decades?) away from winning at a high level and Adams wanted to go somewhere where he had a chance to reach the Super Bowl. Former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll thought enough of Adams to give the Jets multiple first-round draft picks. Oddly, the trade did not really work out for the Jets or Seahawks.
Maybe Adams is preparing for his post-playing career, and he wants to make amends with fanbases he might have felt like he slighted. He likely will never do that with the Seattle Seahawks even though the safety stole money from the team for several years. Sure, he was hurt for many games. He also was not a good teammate in his final season with the team.
In Week 15 of the 2023 season, Carroll informed the safety he would not be playing against the Philadelphia Eagles and Adams either stayed home or went home and was not there to support his fellow players. He should have been released then and there, but Carroll would never have done something like that.
Still, Adams has recently reached out to his original team's fans (fans of your New York football Jets) and said he now regrets ever asking to leave the city that never sleeps.
Speaking with Tyler Dunne of Go Long, the safety said, "(Jets) fans, I didn’t know I hurt ‘em like that. I didn’t realize I had that much impact. And then, obviously, the older I got, I started to realize, 'Bro, you had it all. You had it all besides the winning. Everything else, you had it all. Anything a player could ask for.'"
Speaking of those #Jets, Jamal Adams was quite reflective in our conversation. Regrets asking for a trade.
— Tyler Dunne (@TyDunne) December 30, 2024
"Fans, I didn’t know I hurt ‘em like that. I didn’t realize I had that much impact. And then obviously the older I got, I started to realize, “Bro, you had it all. You had… pic.twitter.com/0xwhFuG41W
The odd part is that Adams still comes across as arrogant in his response. He didn't realize how much of an impact he had on the fans. He should be more worried about the impact he had on his fellow teammates. He failed in both New York and Seattle. He will likely fail wherever else he ends up in his playing career as well.