Former All-Pro safety Jamal Adams ‘would love’ to return to Jets, finish New York career ‘the right way’

Ex-New York Jets All-Pro safety Jamal Adams‘ chaotic split from the Jets in 2020 culminated in a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Seattle Seahawks.

Now, Adams, who is 29-years-old, desires to patch up his relationship with the franchise that drafted him sixth overall out of LSU in the 2017 NFL Draft and suit up for them on good terms one last time. He is a free agent at the moment after splitting time between the Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions in 2024. 

“I would love to be back with the Jets and, obviously, finish it the right way,” Adams said Wednesday on The Jets Lounge, via ESPN. “Man, that would be a dream come true, just to patch up that relationship and kind of make it right.”  

Adams rose to stardom quickly, earning two Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections in his second and third NFL seasons (2018 and 2019) — including a first-team All-Pro nod in 2019. His goal to become the highest-paid safety in the league led Adams to publicly admit to being disgruntled and demand a trade in the 2020 offseason. Just a month following that request, New York sent him and a 2022 fourth-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for two first-round picks (2021 and 2022, the latter of which became wide receiver Garrett Wilson), a 2021 third-round pick and safety Bradley McDougald. 

Adams got the four-year, $70 million extension he was looking from Seattle, and he earned another Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro nod in 2020. That year, Adams set the NFL’s single-season sacks record for a defensive back with 9.5. Today, he regrets how he handled his communication with the Jets front office at the time.

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“My biggest regret is me and [general manager] Joe Douglas never speaking,” Adams said. “We never spoke on the phone one time. We never spoke in person one time before this trade happened. And that’s where I wish we could have that back, because I can’t speak for him, but I didn’t go about it the right way at that time.”  

The defensive back said he reached out to Douglas to apologize last year. Injuries cut Adams’ Seahawks’ tenure short as he played just 22 from 2021 to 2023 before Seattle released him. Adams played in five games in 2024 with the Titans and the Lions, and he finished the year in Detroit. That gives him plenty of familiarity with new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, who was Detroit’s defensive coordinator last season. Now, Adams hopes his familiarity with Glenn can get him one last shot with the Jets in 2025. 

“[I would] just come in as a seasoned vet, give game to the young cats and help in any way, shape or form I can,” Adams said. “I know I can still play football. I’m healthy and I know I can impact the game in a lot of ways. I just need that fair opportunity to come in and show what I can do.”