The Raiders announced the signing of veteran safety Jamal Adams on Tuesday, and it was a move that not many were anticipating.
Penciled in as starters in the Raiders secondary are Isaiah Pola-Mao and Jeremy Chinn, and there is optimism in the building around both players.
Pola-Mao and Chinn are not All-Pro caliber safeties, but at this stage in his career Adams wouldn’t be considered by many to be an upgrade over either player.
Adams, though, has a history with Raiders head coach Pete Carroll, and The Athletic’s Tashan Reed thinks his signing might be more about roster depth.
“Jamal Adams signing was a little surprising. Just looking at their roster, they definitely have some areas that would stand out as needs, but I didn’t really think safety would be one,” Reed said on the Just Win podcast. “I think they’re pretty confident in that starting duo of Jeremy Chen, who he just signed early this offseason, and Isaiah Pullman, who started out as a necessity last year, but I think he was pretty solid, all things considered, in that free safety role.”
“Adams obviously has that connection to Pete Carroll, played for him for years with the Seattle Seahawks, but he’s had a rough go of it the last few years,” Reed continued. “This is his third different team since 2024. He lost a lot of that special ability that made him an All-Pro player earlier in his career. His body just hasn’t been able to hold up.”
“At this point, he’s more of a box safety only, I would say, if you want to use him in the best way, almost as a lighter linebacker who can also blitz off the edge. Jeremy Chin can do a lot of that stuff. That’s what makes me think this is more like a third safety signing… If he is able to perform throughout training camp and make the team ultimately. At first, it kind of surprised me, but I think the more I thought about it, it kind of makes more sense.”
Adams will turn 30 in October, and if he’s finally healthy, the Raiders will be happy to get a version of the former All Pro that looks anything like his 2020 season in Seattle where he recorded 83 tackles and 9.5 sacks.
For his part, Adams posted on X last week that he’s in the best shape of his life…
x: @raidersbeat
Adams was signed even though they already have Jeremy Chinn, because Carroll likes to sign his former players. He’s just like that. Look at Geno Smith. The Seahawks were about get rid of him because they didn’t want to pay him big money. But Carroll came to his rescue. He’s doing the exact same thing by signing Adams 🙆🏾♂️
Who the hell are Jeremy Chen and Isaiah Pullman? Maybe Chinn and Pola-Mao? Maybe you should try reading the article before putting it out here? Adams hopefully is nothing more than a camp body since he wouldn’t last but a few games at best anyway. Otherwise it’s a terrible roster decision.