The Seattle Seahawks released safeties Jamal Adams and Quadre Diggs and tight end Will Dissley on Tuesday, the team announced.
Adams, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, was set to make $16.5 million in 2024 without guarantees and count $26.9 million against the salary cap — an unsustainable amount for a player looking to stay on the field or move to quarterback. Unable to build on his stellar Seattle debut in 2020.
Adams’ release eliminated $16.5 million from the Seahawks’ books as well as $17.5 million (not guaranteed) that he was due to earn in the final year of his contract, 2025.
A source told ESPN the Seahawks are not using the designation after June 1 with Adams’ release. That means they will save $6.1 million against the 2024 cap hit, while immediately absorbing all of their $20.83 million in dead money, according to Over the Cap.
By releasing Diggs, the Seahawks freed up $11 million in cap space and took away $10.26 million in dead money, per OTC, while Disley’s release cleared $7 million and created $3.1 million in dead money.
Between three consecutive injury-shortened seasons, zero sacks in that span and a hefty price tag, it looked as if Adams’ days in Seattle were numbered.
The Seahawks parted ways with two first-round picks to acquire Adams from the New York Jets in 2020 — one of the biggest trades of the John Schneider/Pete Carroll era — and then a year later made him the NFL’s highest-paid Security was provided. A four-year, $70 million extension.
Adams made his third consecutive Pro Bowl while setting a record for a defensive back with 9.5 sacks during his first season with the Seahawks, but Adams has not recorded a sack since.
Diggs was acquired in a 2019 trade with the Detroit Lions. He was selected to three consecutive Pro Bowls (2020–22) with the Seahawks and had 18 interceptions in his time with the team, though he turned 31 in January and is $21.3 million against the cap in his final year. Were ready to be counted. Contract.
He had a career-high 95 tackles last season and 324 tackles in 72 games with the Seahawks.
Dissley, Seattle’s 2018 fourth-round draft pick, had 127 catches for 1,421 yards and 13 touchdowns in six seasons with the team. His release was also considered a possibility because he was expected to receive $10.1 million against the cap in the final year of his deal after catching only 17 passes last season.
After missing only two games in his first three seasons with the Jets, Adams was unable to stay healthy in Seattle. He missed four games in 2020 due to a groin strain and required surgery the following offseason to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder as well as two broken fingers on his left hand.
This was the beginning of a series of injuries that Adams was unable to overcome. He missed the final five games of 2021 due to a tear in his labrum, which required a second shoulder surgery the following offseason. There was another process to reattach two of his fingers that had been dislocated.
In the first half of the 2022 opener, Adams tore the quadriceps tendon above his left knee, a devastating injury that knocked him out during the first three games of 2023 and slowed him down the entire season until a December 2014 loss to the Seahawks. Didn’t stop them. Upon his return from a quad injury, Adams said he was in such a dark place that he briefly considered retirement.
Adams’ first game back from a quad injury suffered in Week 4 of last season was cut short by the injury in the first quarter, leading to an angry outburst by the security against the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who examined him on the sideline. Adams apologized for that incident and was not fined, although the NFL fined him $50,000 after another encounter with UNC two weeks later.
His 2023 season was marred by controversy when he insulted an NFL reporter’s wife on the X in December. After Adams allowed a touchdown in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the reporter – who had previously covered Adams during his Jets days – posted a clip of the play with the headline “Yikes”. Then Adams found a photo of the reporter and his wife, posted it and included the same caption, “Oops.”
That response earned Carroll a mild reprimand and no apology from Adams, who reiterated his reasoning behind the post. On the field last season, Adams appeared in nine games, recording seven tackles for loss and two QB hits.
In four years in Seattle, Adams missed 33 of a possible 67 regular season games. He recorded 9.5 sacks (all in 2020), 19 quarterback hits, 22 tackles for loss, 11 passes defended, and 2 interceptions.
