Titans To Cut Safety Adams; Honoring His Request

The music is over after safety Jamal Adams’ short residency with the Tennessee Titans. The former All-Pro is headed to free agency in mid-October.

Adams requested and was granted his release by the Titans on Thursday, NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reported, according to sources. ESPN first reported the news.

Adams took the field in just three games for the Titans in 2024, his initial season with the team, recording four tackles while playing a limited role with just 20 total defensive snaps. Pro Football Focus was not impressed and gave Adams a cut-worthy grade for his performance in those 20 snaps, handing him a mark of 49.8, including an embarrassing 37.7 coverage grade on six coverage snaps.

Although the sample size is incredibly small, it speaks to the fact that Adams has fallen off a cliff as an NFL safety. A three-time All-Pro with the New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks (two second-team selections, one first-team nod), Adams regressed from an up and coming, hard-hitting former first-round pick to a player who struggled to stay healthy in his final two campaigns in Seattle, playing a combined total of 10 games from 2022 to 2023.

It came as no surprise that the Seahawks moved on from him in 2024, leaving him on the street and forced to find work elsewhere. He signed a one-year deal with Tennessee in July but sat out the season opener against Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears due to yet another injury and landed on the reserve/non-football injury list prior to the Titans’ Week 6 game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Adams began his career as a highly touted defensive weapon in ‘The City That Never Sleeps’, New York, serving as a young face of a Jets team attempting to become contenders for the Super Bowl. He earned two Pro Bowl trips in his second and third professional seasons, but contract demands prompted the Jets to trade him to Seattle in a blockbuster deal that saw the Seahawks send the Jets a package that included two first-round picks, plus safety Bradley McDougald.

Adams proved to be a useful blitzer in Seattle, recording a career-high 9.5 sacks in 2020, but failed to warm to the task and prove himself as a quality cover man. Once the laundry list of injuries began to pile up, it became apparent that he was damaged goods and would not be the long-term fit they were looking for in Seattle, who parted with him after the franchise cleaned house with a regime change that saw Pete Carroll replaced by Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

At 29 years-of-age, Adams, once again has to do the hard and mundane work that it takes to return from an injury. This time, he will do so without a job waiting for him. The veteran defensive back said he is healthy and ready to help out the next team he joins.