What a Potential Davante Adams - Aaron Rodgers Reunion Might Look Like
Image Credit: Sports Illustrated
Star wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders, Davante Adams, is making national headlines this week; for two separate reasons. While the veteran is going into his 11th season this year, he is still arguably a top five receiver in the league, and he still has a lot left in the tank. That was shown in Netflix’s new series, “Receiver”, while his former quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, also seems to think so as well.
The first piece of “offseason news” surrounding Adams was when the brand-new Netflix documentary premiered on July 10. This “docuseries” gave an inside look at how wide receivers game plan for the season, and how they handle business during the week. For Adams, this also gave the public an inside look at how unhappy he was at times while playing for the Raiders. That was especially the case when he played with Jimmy Garoppolo under center. During the series, Adams said the following:
“I’ve got to get the f*** out of here before I lose my f****** life. I ain’t never been hit this many f****** times in my career; every game I get f***** up.”
While this might have just been a “heat of the moment” situation, Adams did take a lot of serious hits this past season, such as the one that shown against the New England Patriots. To go along with that, Adams was also overthrown on multiple occasions; some of which would have been easy touchdowns. Despite how bad things were during some points in the season for Adams, he was still able to haul in 103 balls for 1,144 yards, and eight touchdowns. If those stats are considered to be a “down year”, then that proves just how good this guy really is.
Things got better for Adams during the back half of the regular season, which was also featured on “Receiver”. Las Vegas ended up firing Josh McDaniels, their head coach, and general manager Dave Ziegler, after an embarrassing Week 8 performance versus the Detroit Lions where Adams only had one catch for 11 yards. Their linebackers coach, Antonio Pierce, was then promoted to the head coach position, and the Raiders ended up finishing the season with a 5-4 record. That’s a lot better than their 3-5 record to start the regular season. The team also named Aidan O’Connell as their starting quarterback, who was able to get the ball in Adams’ hands a lot more than Jimmy Garoppolo was.
While the vibes were high in Las Vegas, and with Adams, to end the season, one still begs to ask the question:
Will the vibes stay high with Adams in Las Vegas?
While everything might look good on the surface at the moment, Las Vegas still has a quarterback issue. O’Connell is a pretty reliable guy, based on what he showed in his rookie year, but he isn’t a quarterback that many teams at this point in time, would build around. They also brought in Gardner Minshew during free agency, who is coming off arguably his best season in the NFL, but once again, he isn’t particularly a franchise quarterback. All of this turmoil at the position, while they are having a quarterback battle during training camp, might end up spilling over into the regular season; where Adams will have to try and work with two different quarterbacks. That’s a lot different than what he has always been used to back in Green Bay.
Image Credit: AP Photo
Adams is the one that did this to himself. It’s not like the Packers traded him away out of spite, or to send him to a place where they know he won’t win anything. He’s the one who wanted to team-up with his former Fresno State quarterback, Derek Carr. In order to make that happen, Las Vegas sent the Packers a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2022 second-round pick. Once Adams got to the Raiders, the organization then handed him a five-year contract worth $28.5 million per season. During his first year on the Raiders, him and Carr never found the success that the two of them thought would happen while playing together, and the Raiders’ ultimately ended up cutting Carr from the team. If Adams knew that this would happen, then he probably would have never left the Packers, or he would have just left to play for a different team altogether.
While Adams keeps insisting that he wants to be a “Raider for life”, his former Green Bay quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, is doing some recruiting behind the scenes; something that is also making headlines this week. While the receiver was doing an interview with Kay Adams, he said that Rodgers has been “in his ear” lately. That would be pointing to the fact that he is trying to recruit Adams to come play for the New York Jets with him. After all, the Jets are probably closer to winning a Super Bowl than the Las Vegas Raiders, and the quarterback situation looks a lot better for Adams if he reunites with Rodgers.
To go along with that claim, while Aaron Rodgers was out golfing this week, a fan walked up to him and asked about how the new Raiders Offensive Coordinator, Luke Getsy, is going to be using Davante Adams. Rodgers responded with this:
“I love Luke Getsy, he’s a fantastic coach. But I love Davante. I can’t wait to play with him... again.”
It can be speculated that this is just another example of Rodgers “trolling” the media, but maybe he’s actually being serious. Both players have now mentioned that they are in communication with each other, and Rodgers is openly trying to get him to play for the Jets. It’s not just Rodgers, either. New York Jets wide receiver, Garrett Wilson, and running back, Breece Hall, have both mentioned in interviews that they are talking with Adams as well; once again, trying to persuade him to leave the Raiders.
This might just be playful banter between two really good friends, or Rodgers might actually be onto something here. This trade could happen this offseason, during the regular season, next offseason, or it might never happen; nobody knows yet. Regardless, if Adams doesn’t start getting the ball, and wins don’t start coming the Raiders way, then he is going to want out.
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Why wouldn’t he go back to a future Hall of Fame quarterback, who’s team is legitimately competing for a championship? Those two teaming back up could cause fireworks for the Big Apple, and the decision of trading for the star receiver should be an easy one for the Jets. It all depends on what the Raiders want in a trade package, but the return on investment for the Jets is getting one of the best quarterback-receiver duos of all time.