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Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks have signed Jamal Adams to a four-year extension that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid safety, the team announced Tuesday.
Adams’ deal has a max value of $72 million, a $20 million signing bonus and includes $38 million guaranteed, agents Kevin Conner and Robert Brown of Universal Sports told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday.
“We officially signed. I’m excited to be here,” Adams said in a video posted to the Seahawks’ Twitter feed. “It’s going to be a wonderful journey, man. The next thing on our mind is getting that [championship] — getting right back to it and going to get it.”
After reporting on time to training camp but not participating in any practices or games, Adams returned to the practice field Tuesday after signing the deal.
The extension will be added to the final year of Adams’ rookie deal, so he’s now under contract through the 2025 season. There also is an option bonus worth $12.5 million that can be exercised on the first day of the 2022 league year, according to Schefter.
The Seahawks began negotiating with Adams’ agents early this offseason, and a source told ESPN that their initial offer was higher than the $15.25 million yearly average that Justin Simmons is making on the deal he signed earlier this offseason with the Denver Broncos that made him the NFL’s highest-paid safety at the time.
Adams’ new average salary of $17.5 million over that extension easily tops that mark, and he becomes the NFL’s 17th-highest-paid defender, per Spotrac data. He also becomes the team’s third-highest-paid player behind quarterback Russell Wilson ($35 million per season) and linebacker Bobby Wagner ($18 million per season).
He reported on time for camp, but he only watched from the sideline while appearing engaged and in good spirits. The agreement ends the three-week stalemate with the Seahawks, who open their season on Sept. 12 against the Indianapolis Colts.
Adams was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2019 and has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the past three seasons. He set the league’s single-season record for sacks by a defensive back last season with 9.5. That figure led the team, as did his 14 tackles for loss and his 30 pressures, which, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, were 14 more than any other defensive back in the league.
He missed four games with a groin injury and played through injuries to both shoulders (including a torn labrum that needed surgery), two broken fingers (which also needed surgery) and a hyperextended elbow.
Coach Pete Carroll said in June that the Seahawks were counting on Adams showing up to training camp even if the two sides had yet to reach a deal by then.
Adams, 25, had joined many of his teammates in skipping the voluntary offseason program — several veteran players did not take part until the final week — and was excused from mandatory minicamp so he could tend to a family matter.
He was set to make $9.86 million in 2021, the final year of the rookie contract that he signed with the New York Jets as the No. 6 pick in 2017.
The Seahawks inherited that contract when they acquired Adams last summer for a package of picks that included Seattle’s first-rounders in 2021 and ’22, making it their boldest trade of the Carroll/general manager John Schneider era.
At the time of the trade, the Seahawks were upfront with Adams, who had requested the trade from the Jets, in that they weren’t going to extend him right away. That was because they wanted to have a better sense of how much the NFL’s salary cap would drop in future seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic before negotiating such a massive deal. They also wanted to get to know Adams before paying him.
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the Adams trade marked only the fifth time since 2009 that a team gave up multiple first-round picks for a player.
Adams becomes the third player to get an extension from the Seahawks this offseason, joining receiver Tyler Lockett and punter Michael Dickson.
While Adams’ deal is done, the Seahawks still have another contract dispute on their hands with 14-year veteran Duane Brown. The Pro Bowl left tackle, who turns 36 later this month, has also been present but not practicing because he’s seeking an extension as he enters a contract year. All indications are that the Seahawks are not inclined to extend Brown this year.