Former Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams is extending his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings.
Adams posted “Year 10. #skol” on social media, signaling that he is headed to Minnesota. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport subsequently reported that Adams had announced his destination as the Vikings. The team had not yet issued its own transaction announcement at the time of the posts.
For Seahawks fans, the move is another chapter in the unusual career of a player once expected to become a cornerstone of Seattle’s defense. Adams arrived at enormous cost, delivered a record-setting first season as a pass rusher and later struggled to remain healthy enough to recapture that impact.
His Minnesota opportunity follows a more encouraging 2025 season with the Las Vegas Raiders. Adams appeared in all 17 games, started four and recorded 45 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble after transitioning from safety to linebacker.
Jamal Adams’ Seahawks Tenure Came With Massive Expectations
Seattle acquired Adams from the New York Jets before the 2020 season, sending New York two first-round selections, a third-round pick and safety Bradley McDougald. The Seahawks also received a fourth-round selection in the deal.
The investment made Adams one of the defining personnel moves of the Pete Carroll-John Schneider era.
Adams initially demonstrated why Seattle was willing to pay such a steep price. He earned Pro Bowl recognition during his first Seahawks season and became a disruptive weapon near the line of scrimmage. Seattle then signed him to a four-year extension in August 2021, with NFL Network reporting that the contract carried a base value of $70 million and a maximum value of $72 million.
Injuries prevented the partnership from developing as Seattle envisioned. Adams played 12 games in 2020, 12 in 2021, one in 2022 and nine in 2023. The Seahawks released him in March 2024 while beginning a defensive overhaul under then-new head coach Mike Macdonald.
Adams subsequently had brief stops with the Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions in 2024. He appeared in only five games between those teams before reuniting with Carroll in Las Vegas the following year.
Position Change Could Shape Adams’ Vikings Role
Adams’ ability to stay on the field throughout the 2025 season may be more important than his raw statistics.
The Raiders moved him from his longtime safety position to linebacker, allowing him to play closer to the line of scrimmage. That usage played to the strengths he displayed in Seattle: attacking downhill, pressuring quarterbacks and operating as a physical defender around the box.
That history makes Adams more intriguing as a situational piece than as a traditional deep safety. His role in Minnesota has not been formally defined, and it would be premature to assume he will receive a starting job. He will first have to establish his place during training camp and prove that his 2025 durability can continue into Year 10.
His experience nevertheless gives Minnesota several possibilities. Adams could compete for snaps as a hybrid linebacker, contribute in pressure packages or provide veteran depth at multiple levels of the defense.
The move does not change anything directly for the current Seahawks roster. It does, however, offer Adams another chance to reshape the final stage of a career that appeared to be approaching its end after Seattle released him.
For a player whose Seahawks tenure will always be measured against two first-round picks and a massive contract, simply remaining available and useful has become the new standard. Minnesota now becomes the latest team to see whether Adams’ reinvention can last.
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