Davante Adams held the Packers’ feet to the fire, insisting he wouldn’t play on the Franchise Tag in 2022.
And in the end, Adams will get his wish. But, uh, not in the way we may have thought. Not with Aaron Rodgers throwing him passes in 2022.
Instead, he’s being reunited with a former college teammate in Derek Carr. That is because Adams is reportedly being sent from Green Bay to Las Vegas in a blockbuster trade:
Davante Adams get a new contract worth $141.25M over 5 years, source say. He gets an average of $28.25 average. https://t.co/YTAxHov0Rj
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2022
UPDATE โ Hereโs the reported return:
Source: The #Packers are receiving a 1st and a 2nd rounder in this year's draft in exchange for WR Davante Adams
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 18, 2022
Wow. Just WOW.
EXCUSE ME!?
Carr said he would be trying to recruit his fellow Fresno State product. But when the Packers gave Adams the tag, an eventual reunion with Green Bay felt like fait accompli, despite the cap issues. Instead, Adams, who has torched the Bears โ and everyone else in the NFL โ is leaving the division *AND* the conference. I can’t say that I saw this coming.
Then again, it is nice to see players get what they want. And Adams gets just that after a career in Green Bay that was super. Adams, 29, has put together 1,300+ yard receiving seasons in three of the last four seasons. Adams has made the Pro Bowl in five straight years and been a first-team All-Pro in each of the lat two seasons. And just like that, he is gone. Off to the Raiders. Where the Bears won’t see him for a few years.
Meanwhile, this leaves Aaron Rodgers without his top target.
Uhhh … how’s that gonna work? (Of course, it was Rodgers’ new contract that made trading Adams more mathematically possible …. ) The Packers will have a couple premium new draft picks to work with, though.
There will be much more to say on this one soon.
UPDATE โ I’m not sure how else to read this other than that Adams was done with Rodgers:
Per a source, the Packers we're willing to pay Adams equally to what the Raiders are with this new deal but Adams preferred to play elsewhere.ย
Aaron Rodgers was aware of the developments with Adams as they unfolded in recent days.
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) March 17, 2022
Also … I struggle to come to the conclusion that Rodgers willingly signed off on throwing to a receiver corps that wasn’t going to include Adams moving forward:
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