The Green Bay Packers traded disgruntled star wide receiver Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders for their first-and-second-round picks in April’s 2022 NFL draft. Adams immediately agreed to the long-term extension he was seeking with the Packers.
The former Fresno State Bulldog signed a five-year and $141.25 million deal, putting his average annual value at ($28.25 million), making him the highest-paid pass catcher in the NFL, surpassing DeAndre Hopkins ($27.25M) and seven-time Pro Bowl player Julio Jones ($22M).
The deal comes on the heels of Adams telling the team he wouldn’t play under the franchise tag placed on him last week.
“If you’re Oakland Raiders HC Josh McDaniels, you’ve got to be ecstatic right now,” said NFL analyst Booger McFarland on “SportCenter” with Stan Verrett a few hours after the deal was announced. “If you look at the Raiders offense, we knew about Darren Waller, we knew about Hunter Renfrow in the slot, but now you add the best receiver in the game. You go with a power back in Josh Jacobs and you have a [QB in Derek Carr] who can deliver the ball. I would say the pressure is on Josh McDaniels. You have all the weapons and a veteran quarterback, everything you need.”
Now, the stakes are even higher in the AFC West, which is loaded after the flurry of offseason moves.
It looked like Adams might be sticking around in Green Bay when the franchise released linebacker Za’Darius Smith and his $27.6 million cap hit, but ultimately the two sides were far apart on the terms needed to secure Aaron Rodgers’ favorite target. When Rodgers signed his mammoth deal, the probability of signing Adams dwindled considerably. The star has a thirst to be the highest-paid receiver in the game.
Aaron Rodgers Gets Huge Deal: Makes It Nearly Impossible To Keep Adams
The Packers and Rodgers agreed to a deal that will pay the quarterback $150 million over the first three seasons, that’s a whopping $50 million per season, which for all intents and purposes threw things into a tizzy for a team already $40 million over the salary cap.
Had Rodgers been willing to take less, say in the $35 million to $40 million range, then it would’ve been much easier to fairly compensate Adams. One would think Rodgers’ would’ve done such the way he recently raved about his best target since 2014.
Rodgers had this to say about DA, via the team’s website …
“I’ve played with some incredible players but the kind of dominance that I’ve seen from Davante warrants that type of praise. I’ve played with some great receivers over the years and appreciated the different skill sets that they brought to the table. But I feel like the way Davante’s been playing the last few years, it’s something that I haven’t quite seen during my 17 years.”
While Aaron Rodgers was negotating his contract, he knew Davante Adams would never play for the #Packers again. The situation was too far gone. Something had to give. And when Adams informed GB he wasn’t playing on the tag, talks got fired up. Now, Adams will be on the #Raiders. https://t.co/YTAxHov0Rj
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2022
Adams Deserved His Money
There are more than a few NFL analysts who believe that Aaron Rodgers won back-to-back league MVPs the last two seasons because of Adams, who caught 238 passes for 2,927 yards and 29 touchdowns. Rodgers threw a total of 85 TDs in those seasons, and more than a third of them went to Adams.
Adams got paid, but it wasn’t in Green Bay where he’s spent his entire eight-year career, amassing 669 receptions, 8,121 yards and 73 career touchdowns, five Pro Bowl selections and two First-team All-Pro selections.
His first year in Las Vegas won’t be totally unfamiliar territory. Adams is sort of getting the gang back together again.
Adams Reuniting With College QB Derek Carr
Adams and Carr played together at Fresno State in an explosive aerial attack that connected on 233 receptions, for 3,030 yards and 38 touchdowns. There’s no better place for DA to land than with a QB he already has a connection with.
