What will Seahawks do with Jamal Adams and Tyler Lockett?

The Seattle Seahawks have some big decisions to make this offseason.

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The team’s highest-paid player in 2024, quarterback Geno Smith, is likely to be back as guarantees for his deal have kicked in. It is possible, though, that Seattle trades the veteran signal caller.

But checking in at No. 2 and 3 on the team’s highest-paid list are safety Jamal Adams and receiver Tyler Lockett. Neither have a guaranteed salary for 2024, per OverTheCap, and Adams has been severely injured and struggled at times on the field the last few years while Lockett failed to surpass 1,000 yards last year for the first time since 2018.

So what will the Seahawks do with those two big-name veterans? Brad Spielberger, salary cap analyst for Pro Football Focus, dove into that with Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Thursday.

First, Adams, who Spielberger pointed to as a cut candidate in a recent article on PFF.

“Look, Jamal Adams, I think it’s a fairly easy decision there,” Spielberger said.

Cutting Adams with a post-June 1 designation would save the Seahawks over $17 million with roughly a $9.8 million dead cap hit.

Adams has played just 10 games over the last two seasons, and they signed Julian Love last offseason and he was a Pro Bowler in 2023.

“I think when the signing of Julian Love happened last offseason, kind of right away there was a bit of a tell,” Spielberger said.

The Seahawks also drafted a do-it-all defensive back No. 5 overall in Devon Witherspoon, who did a lot of what Adams used to do for Seattle before injuries piled up.

“Devon Witherspoon is a guy that can come down in the box, play in the slot and is that kind of hybrid role guy that can blitz, which obviously became a huge piece of Jamal Adams’ value and just rushing the passer became a big part of his game,” Spielberger said. “So they kind of moved on, in my eyes, in how they addressed personnel last year. I do think Jamal Adams probably will be out the door this offseason.”

As for Lockett, cutting him with a post-June 1 designation would save the Seahawks $17 million with a roughly $9.9 million dead cap hit.

While moving on from Adams seems like a no-brainer to Spielberger, Lockett’s situation is a bit different, even if the financial ramifications are close to the same.

“Obviously there’s also the emotional element and just how important he is to the locker room and the city and been there for (his entire career) and really hasn’t fallen off,” he said. “I know he had 1,000 yards four years in a row before this past season, but he’s still playing at a very high level. You know there’s gonna be a dip in production when you add a first-round receiver (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) into the fold.”

Spielberger also thinks the Seahawks will use a lot of three-receiver sets next year because of new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.

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Ultimately, Spielberger thinks the Seahawks will approach Lockett about taking a pay cut.

“It could be instead of an outright cut, you say, ‘Look, a $15.3 million (base) salary is pretty large for a guy going into his age-32 season. We love you, we want you to be a Seattle Seahawk for life, but can we maybe bring that number down?’ Add some incentives, add some guarantee so there’s protection on his end, but lower the overall value. I think that the conversation probably will be had between the two parties,” he said.

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