After signing with the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this week, Jamal Adams will be changing positions and switching from safety to WILL linebacker, coach Pete Carroll said Friday. Adams, 29, was signed by the Raiders on Tuesday after being a free agent for much of the offseason leading into training camp.
Once an All-Pro safety, Adams’ move to the Raiders reunites him with Carroll, who coached him for four years on the Seattle Seahawks following a blockbuster trade to acquire him in 2020. While Adams began to struggle with injuries, and his level of play declined to the point he was cut by the Seahawks in 2024, Carroll still lauded Adams’ style of play and the way it can serve as a tone-setter for the sort of program he is trying to build on the Raiders.
“We made a big trade to get him because of who he is and the nature of his football. The style of play, aggressiveness, toughness and his mentality is really, really unique,” Carroll told reporters. “That’s why we were so willing to go after him awhile back. So to get a chance to get him back in our organization and kind of give him an opportunity to get back in the flow of the kind of play he’s capable of, I’m all over it. … His style of play is so suitable for what we’re trying to do here about being aggressive and tough and all that.”
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Should Adams successfully make the conversion to linebacker and rediscover his old form, his aggressive style of play should be a boost for The Silver and Black in their first year under Carroll. The No. 6-overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Adams earned three-straight Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors from 2018 to 2020 and has been credited with 501 tackles, 21.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, 36 pass deflections, four interceptions and two touchdowns in his career.