Seahawks place Jamal Adams on IR, waive Frank Clark before Week 17 game

SEATTLE – In a flurry of roster moves Saturday afternoon, the Seahawks waived outside linebacker/edge rusher Frank Clark, placed safety Jamal Adams and receiver Dee Eskridge on injured reserve – ending their regular seasons – and downgraded linebacker Jordyn Brooks to out for Sunday’s game against the Steelers.

The Seahawks also announced they added linebacker Patrick O’Connell, safety Ty Okada and offensive lineman Jake Curhan from the practice squad to the 53-man roster to fill the spots of Clark, Adams and Eskridge.

Seattle also elevated nose tackle Austin Faoliu and cornerback Kelvin Joseph from the practice squad for Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. game at Lumen Field.

The release of Clark ends what turned out to be a quicker-than-expected reunion with a player who was the team’s first pick in the 2015 draft and is 10th overall on Seattle’s franchise sack list with 35.

The moves with Adams and Eskridge also mark disappointing turns in the comebacks of two players who continue to see their Seahawks careers derailed by injuries.

Adams, whom Seattle acquired amid much fanfare in the summer of 2020 in a trade with the New York Jets for two first-round picks, returned this season from surgery to repair a torn quad muscle suffered in the 2022 season opener against Denver.

He came back Week 5 in New York against the Giants, but suffered a concussion that knocked him out after just nine snaps. But he returned from that to start eight of Seattle’s next nine games, sitting out a Nov. 19 contest against the Rams in Los Angeles due to persistent soreness in his knee.

Adams last played on Dec. 10 in a 28-16 loss to the 49ers in San Francisco during which he got beat by Deebo Samuel for a 54-yard touchdown.

Carroll said Friday the Seahawks hoped a few weeks off would help Adams overcome the knee soreness and finish the season. But after Adams practiced on a limited basis Wednesday and Thursday, he was ruled out on Friday.

“We had taken a couple of weeks off, and we thought we would see how that helped him and if it would, and it helped him enough to get on the practice field and he could get around and all that,” Carroll said. “But it’s just not up to the level that he can play at, and he knows that and we know that, so we talked it through. That’s why we settled on this, listing him as out.”

Going on IR means Adams will have played just 22 games since signing a four-year contract extension prior to the 2021 season worth up to $72 million. That average per year remains third among all NFL safeties behind only Derwin James of the Chargers at $19 million and the Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick at $18.2 million.

Players on IR must miss at least four games before returning, meaning Eskridge and Adams could theoretically make it back for the NFC championship game if Seattle were to get that far.

Clark had been declared out for Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh with the rare designation of resting with no specific injury. It was set to be the second straight game that Clark would be a healthy inactive player, and the fourth time in the past six games he had been inactive.

Clark had not practiced all week, listed simply as a resting player, and was not seen on the field during a portion of the beginning of every workout that was open to the media.

Carroll declined to elaborate on the situation with Clark when asked about him after Friday’s practice.

“Frank is out for the game, and that’s where he is right now,” Carroll said. Asked if Clark was OK, Carroll said, “Frank is fine.”

Then asked if he anticipates Clark playing again this season, Carroll said, “I’m not talking about that anymore. That’s it. I’ve got nothing for you. He’s out right now and we’ll just leave it at that.”

Clark, the 63rd overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Michigan who played all but two games for Seattle from the 2015-18 seasons, returned to the Seahawks in late October with the team wanting some experienced depth on the edge in the wake of the season-ending injury to Uchenna Nwosu.

Clark, who had played two games with Denver earlier in the year before being released by the Broncos on Oct. 14, saw significant action initially with Seattle, playing 27 or more snaps in three of his first five games back and at least 28% of the defensive snaps in each of the first five games of his return.

But Clark played only one game since the Nov. 30 loss to Dallas, with seven snaps in the win over the Eagles, as his production declined.

Clark finished with just six tackles in six games and no sacks or quarterback hits.

His release likely means the end of his time with Seattle – and at the age of 30 marks an uncertain NFL future after having been released by three teams since March (including Kansas City).

Clark had 13 sacks for Seattle in 2018, which remains the most for any Seahawk since 2007.

But he was traded the following spring to Kansas City with the Seahawks reluctant to give him a deal at the top of the edge rush market.

Seattle got a package of draft picks in return that included a 2019 first-rounder they used on defensive end L.J. Collier. Those picks also gave Seattle the flexibility to make additional moves to turn what had been four picks heading into the draft into 11.

As for Eskridge, he has played just 24 games since being drafted 56th overall by Seattle in 2021, the highest pick the Seahawks made that year.

He was suspended for the first six games of this season for violating the league’s personal code of conduct. He played sparingly in four games with no catches, but did return eight kickoffs for 224 yards, including a 66-yarder on Thanksgiving against the 49ers that helped set up a field goal. He has not played since that game while battling a rib injury.

Brooks, meanwhile, re-sprained his ankle against the Titans Sunday. He practiced on a limited basis Friday which gave some hope that maybe he could make it back for the Steelers game.

Instead, he will miss his first game of the season with Devin Bush expected to take over as the starter at the other inside linebacker spot alongside Bobby Wagner.

Okada, O’Connell and Curhan will add depth at positions where Seattle has some injuries while Joseph and Faoliu also will add depth at spots where there are some injury issues.