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Jamal Adams' extension with Seahawks: How richest safety deal can get even richer

RENTON, Wash. -- Jamal Adams didn't just reset the safety market with his four-year, $70 million extension from the Seattle Seahawks.

He blew it out of the water in at least one metric.

Adams' annual average of $17.5 million easily topped the $15.25 million average per year -- the previous standard at the position -- and $35 million in guarantees that Justin Simmons got on his deal from the Denver Broncos earlier this offseason. Landon Collins still has the highest overall guarantee at $44.5 million, per Over The Cap data, but that's partly because he signed a six-year extension with the Washington Football Team.

Adams' deal can get even richer with an additional $2 million available in incentives and escalators.

A source told ESPN Adams' 2024 base salary will increase by $250,000 for every season over the next three in which he makes the Pro Bowl and the Seahawks reach the NFC Championship Game. The max value of that escalator is $750,000 for 2024, with another $1 million available in 2025. Adams can also earn a one-time incentive bonus of $250,000 if he finishes any of the 2021-2024 seasons with at least five sacks and at least three interceptions.

Here's the full breakdown of Adams' extension:

2021

Base salary: $1 million (guaranteed)

Cap number: $5 million

Comment: For cap purposes, Adams' $20 million signing bonus is prorated over the life of his extension, so it counts $4 million in each of the next five seasons. That $4 million plus his $1 million base salary equals a $5 million cap charge for 2021, which is about half of what it was scheduled to be on the final year of his rookie deal. That puts the Seahawks at around $13 million in cap space, per Over The Cap. That's more than enough for in-season expenses like injury replacements, the practice squad and perhaps a trade acquisition. The Seahawks maintained their policy of not fully guaranteeing money beyond the first year of a deal, so the remaining $17 million of Adams' $38 million in guarantees is guaranteed only for injury at signing. It vests into full guarantees (meaning for injury, skill and cap) at later dates.

2022

Base salary: $2 million

Option bonus: $12.44 million

Cap number: $9.11 million

Comment: An option bonus essentially serves as a second signing bonus. Adams gets the $12.44 million cash when the option is exercised next spring (assuming part of the payment isn't deferred), and the Seahawks get to spread out the cap charges over the remaining four seasons of his deal, $3.11 million apiece. That plus his $2 million base salary and the $4 million of signing-bonus proration amounts to a $9.11 million cap number for 2022. If that $12.44 million were part of Adams' base salary instead, he'd count $18.44 million against the cap, so the option bonus makes that number much more manageable while still keeping money toward the front end of Adams' deal, which players prefer.

2023

Base salary: $11 million

Cap number: $18.11 million

Comment: This is when the deal starts to really count against the cap. Perhaps not coincidentally, it's also when linebacker Bobby Wagner's massive contract is scheduled to come off the Seahawks' books (though they could always extend him). Assuming the NFL's salary cap resumes its annual increases by this point, that would also help Seattle absorb the meat of Adams' cap charges.

2024

Base salary: $16.5 million

Cap number: $23.61 million

Comment: You've got the accounting down by now: $16.5 million plus $4 million plus $3.11 million equals $23.61 million. For now, anyway. Remember, Adams' base salary for 2024 could be increased by as much as $750,000 depending on how many of his Pro Bowl/NFC title game escalators he hits over the next three seasons.

2025

Base salary: $17.5 million

Cap number: $24.61 million

Comment: The Pro Bowl/NFC title game escalator could make Adams an additional $1 million in 2025, though he would obviously hope to get another extension before he sees the final year of this one. He'll turn 30 in October 2025. There are no per-game roster bonuses, something the Seahawks often have on the back ends of bigger contracts. Those give teams some financial relief in case a player is injured, as, depending on the type of bonus, he doesn't earn it if he's inactive or on injured reserve. Players and agents thus prefer that money to instead be in base salary, since it would be earned even in the event of an injury.