Titans, S Jamal Adams Agree To Deal

JULY 12: Per Ari Meirov of the 33rd Team, Adams’ deal is one year in length and it qualifies for the veteran salary benefit. After being attached to a Seahawks deal worth $17.5MM per year prior to his release, Adams will therefore earn $1.13MM in 2024.

JULY 11: One of the many veteran safeties still on the market has found a new home. Jamal Adams has an agreement in place with the Titans, ESPN’s Turron Davenport notes. The move is now official, per a team announcement. Adams’ agent confirmed (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter) that this is a one-year accord.

Tennessee was known to be interested in making an addition at the safety spot earlier this offseason. The team had not been publicly connected to any of the available options at the position recently, however. Nevertheless, Adams will provide the Titans with an experienced secondary option as he aims to deliver a healthy campaign and restore his free agent value in the process.

Adams recently visited the Titans, the team announced Thursday. That summit quickly produced this agreement, one which will thin the safety market to a degree once training camps open around the league later this month. The 28-year-old was (alongside Quandre Diggs) let go by the Seahawks in a cost-shedding move earlier this offseason. Adams remained in contact with Seattle after the draft, but instead of re-joining the team on a less expensive pact he will return to the AFC in 2024.

Interestingly, a potential Seattle reunion was contemplated (on the team’s side) with the understanding Adams would play at linebacker rather than safety. The former Jets first-rounder has played exclusively on the backend during his career, one which has been marred by injuries during recent times in particular. Adams’ mobility will be a question mark in Tennessee entering 2024 after he was limited to just 10 games over the past two seasons.

The Ravens hosted Adams on a free agent visit in May, but no updates on his market had emerged since then. The 2024 offseason saw a number of accomplished safeties let go in cost-shedding moves this spring, and the depth of available contributors has hindered the position’s overall market. It will be interesting to see if Adams’ signing will spur further action amidst the veterans looking to land with a new team ahead of training camp or at least the beginning of the season.

The three-time Pro Bowler has started all 80 games in his career, but he has failed to replicate his pass-rushing success (9.5 sacks) demonstrated in his debut Seahawks campaign of 2020. Tennessee – a team which traded away mainstay Kevin Byard midway through the 2023 season – had yet to make a free agent signing prior to today’s Adams agreement. With seventh-rounder James Williams being the Titans’ only safety draft addition, Adams could carve out a notable role in Nashville.

As Davenport notes, this agreement will allow Adams to reunite with Dennard Wilson. The latter served as New York’s defensive backs coach in 2018 and ’19, two of Adams’ best seasons. Wilson spent last season working with the Ravens, but he took Tennessee’s defensive coordinator gig in the winter. As he embarks on a new point in his career, Wilson will have a familiar face to work with in the secondary.