Seattle Seahawks sign All-Pro safety Jamal Adams to 4-year extension

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The Seattle Seahawks signed three-time Pro Bowl defensive back Jamal Adams to a four-year contract extension that made him the league's highest-paid safety, the team announced Tuesday.

League sources told ESPN and NFL Media that Adams' deal has a maximum value of $72 million. According to the outlets, the pact also includes $38 million guaranteed and a $20 million signing bonus.

The extension will be added to the last year of Adams' rookie deal, meaning he is now under contract through the 2025 season.

"I believe in myself. I believe in what I can do on the football field," Adams told reporters Tuesday after signing the extension. "All I needed was somebody to believe in me, and those guys upstairs believed in me. They took a chance, and all I can do is just continue to produce and work my tail off [to] win ball games."

Adams, a first-team All-Pro selection in 2019, has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the last three seasons. In the 2020 campaign, he set the league's single-season record for sacks by a defensive back (9.5). That sack total led the Seahawks, as did his 14 tackles for a loss and his 30 pressures.

The New York Jets selected Adams with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2017 draft out of LSU. After three seasons in New York, he was traded to the Seahawks in July 2020.

The 25-year-old Adams has notched 356 total tackles, 21.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, two interceptions and 28 passes defensed in 58 career games with the Jets and Seahawks.

Adams, who was set to earn about $9.9 million in 2021, becomes the third Seahawks player to receive an extension this off-season, joining wide receiver Tyler Lockett and punter Michael Dickson.