Seahawks news for Wednesday: Pete says Jamal is OK

The NFL annual meetings are going on right now so a bunch of rich people are sitting around talking to other rich people but there are football people involved as well. Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was involved on Tuesday and had quite a lot to say. Some of this was about what Seattle is doing with its safety position in 2023.

The thing is, many 12s and other people who like Jamal Adams are asking what exactly is going on with Adams as the Seahawks not only tendered Ryan Neal but they also signed Giants free agent Julian Love. Seattle still has free safety Quandre Diggs so that makes at least four safeties for Seattle: Adams, Love, Neal, and Diggs. Normally there are two safeties on the field so where are all these guys playing? Moreover, is Adams on his way out as he always seems to be injured?

According to Carroll, Adams is definitely not going anywhere. In fact, signing a safety like Love, who tackles especially well, and adding him to a mix with Adams, Neal, and Diggs only frees the Seahawks' defense up to be more creative. Basically, get used to seeing even more three-safety sets for Seattle. About Adams, Carroll said

"I know there's some conversation that what we did with Julian, does that have some impact on Jamal or Quandre - it doesn't. We have a clear thought of what we're going to do with our guys and how we want to play them and we feel very fortunate to have all our guys."

Seahawks still want Jamal Adams to be a big part of the defense in 2023

The hope is that Adams will be back in Week 1, but if he isn’t the Seahawks are still set at safety and have a talented group. But if Adams is ready to go, Seattle can still use three safety sets with Neal, Love, and Diggs. Love also has the ability to play in the slot which means Neal could stay at strong safety and Diggs at free safety. This still gives Seattle improved tackling over last season.

Or heck, maybe the Seahawks are going to blow everyone’s minds and actually play four safeties at times. It might be something like Neal at strong safety, Diggs at free, Love at nickelback, and Adams being used more in a linebacker role. This would give Seattle lots of speed on the field, but the ability to play both the run and pass. It can’t be used all the time, of course, as teams could simply power over the safeties, but it’s still an alignment that would give opposing offensive coordinators pause.

The point in all of this is that it appears that the Seahawks have no intention of releasing Jamal Adams, a move with a post-June 1st designation would save the team a bit over $8 million. If Adams does stay healthy and comes back near 100 percent of what he was in 2020, he will disrupt opposing offenses. Now that Seattle has revamped its defense, maybe they are ready to attack more. In turn, that could mean a deep run in the 2023 playoffs.