The common misconception is that Davante Adams picked QB Derek Carr over QB Aaron Rodgers. Recently Adams cleared that up for us.
Davante Adams, one of the most polished, and yes the best, wide receivers in the NFL shocked the league when he left the Green Bay Packers to play with Derek Carr in Las Vegas with the Raiders.
There was more to this story than we originally thought.
When Davante Adams left the Green Bay Packers there was definitely some confusion surrounding the trade, especially considering Adams’ current quarterback Aaron Rodgers is arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
It is understandable that Adams would want to reunite with his Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr but it is somewhat of a downgrade from Rodgers, and the Packers have been far more competitive within their division than the Raiders have been in the AFC West as of late.
During the Raiders minicamp this week Adams was asked if he and Rodgers had talks during the (trade) process and since he left Green Bay and Adams acknowledged they spoke several times.
Davante Adams spoke with Aaron Rodgers before the deal went down
When asked Adams stated that they openly spoke about Rodgers’ position on how long he intended to be in Green Bay and what that would mean for Adams as he has goals…
"I’ve got aspirations of doing really big things and being remembered…It just wasn’t really a point in my career that I was willing to sacrifice Aaron [Rodgers] not being there after a year or two. So my decision was to be here [Las Vegas] and he respected that. Davante Adams"
I asked @tae15adams if he's had conversations with Aaron Rodgers since leaving GB and what the goodbye was like. Here's his answer ⬇️ #Raiders #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/e8S2pFhkle
— Cassie Soto (@_CassieSoto) June 9, 2022
There were other clues that led Adams to choose to head to the desert instead of staying in Green Bay.
Davante Adams impacted by Aaron Rodgers’ contract
Aaron Rodgers signed a massive contract extension in March, worth upwards of $160 million dollars spread out over three years. While the cap hits within the contract are substantial;
-$28 mil in 2022
-$31 mil in 2023
The contract adds on two extra years into 2025 and 2026 or “dummy years” in the chance that Rodgers wants to continue his career with the Packers but it also gives the team flexibility to move about some of the payments to offset cap hits in the future.
While the contract gives the illusion of a long-term deal it is essentially a year-to-year arrangement depending on how Rodgers decides to proceed, and it is possible that he structured it this way so he could walk away if he decides to do so.
As Adams’ trade came after Rodgers’ extension he likely saw the writing on the wall and between his conversations with Rodgers and the status of Rodgers’ contract Adams knew he would not have #12 on the field alongside him for long.
Adams, who reportedly had wanted to go to Vegas for several years, finally expressed his concerns to the Packers front office and eventually made the move to the Raiders.
As this whole move is examined it should be becoming clearer that Adams likely would have stayed longer in Green Bay if Aaron Rodgers would be staying for the duration of Adams’ extension.
Since Adams ended up signing a five-year extension in Vegas it is extremely doubtful that Rodgers plans to stay in Green Bay for anything close to that amount of time.
The Jordan Love factor for Davante Adams
There were a lot of different avenues the Packers’ front office could have taken in the 2019 NFL Draft.
While they opted to draft Utah State QB Jordan Love with the #26th pick overall (after trading up) they could have drafted receivers such as Chase Claypool, Michael Pittman, or Tee Higgins, all of which were drafted after Love.
The move clearly affected Aaron Rodgers which in turn changed the trajectory of Davante Adams’ career.
Jordan Love, who is still projected to be the future starter of the Packers when Rodgers moves on, has started in one regular season game and it came in Week 9 of the 2021 season against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Love participated in six games in total but during his one start against the Chiefs Love finished the game with a 7-13 loss with 19 completions on 34 attempts for 190 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Love showed some signs of potential and but there were definitely some ugly plays. Specifically when it came to Davante Adams and Love you could see that Adams was wide open after blowing past his defender and Love failed to see Adams was open or more than likely just wasn’t confident enough yet in his own abilities.
In that particular game, Love targeted Adams 14 times yielding only 6 completions for 42 yards with no touchdowns. One of those pass attempts also resulted in a back-shoulder fade that landed in the arms of Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.
During Adams’ minicamp press conference this week he was asked about why he moved on from Green Bay. Adams made some telling comments that lead the public to make assumptions about his feelings about spending a portion of his career with Jordan Love as his quarterback.
Davante Adams did not want to play with Jordan Love as the starting quarterback. It’s not an insult, it’s not Adams being a diva.
Adams said he wants to be a legendary wide receiver and to accomplish great things. He has a better shot at that with his new quarterback than spending one or two more years with Rodgers than settling in with Jordan Love.
Why Davante Adams ultimately chose Derek Carr
Derek Carr may not be an upgrade to Aaron Rodgers but he is an upgrade to Jordan Love. While Love and Adams had two seasons together to establish a rapport Carr and Adams put on a true display of football acumen at Fresno State.
In 2013 alone Adams had 131 receptions for 1,719 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns which were the fourth most touchdowns in a single season. With Adams as his number one target, Carr dialed in and threw for over 5,000 passing yards and 50 touchdowns.
The two continued to throw every offseason together after being drafted to different teams (both in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft) continuing to keep their connection alive, only halting that tradition when Carr moved to Vegas when the team relocated.
In his minicamp presser, Adams acknowledged on top of reuniting with Carr he also got closer to family members by relocating to Nevada.
The real eyebrow-raising comment came when Adams was asked to compare Derek Carr to his former QB, Aaron Rodgers;
"As far as talent and ability, it’s really similar, if I’m keeping it real. They throw the ball a lot different. Derek’s gonna fire it in there, and you gonna know that thing’s coming quick. Aaron’s got the ability to tighten that core up and flick that ball to you. So the release is a lot different, but being able to get the ball to you late, if they see you coming out of a break, not many quarterbacks can get it to you before you get to the sideline if you’re outside the numbers already. Having two guys like that with really strong arms, and understand the game, the mental part of it, is another similarity that they have. They both obsess over it and they know everything that’s going on out there. Davante Adams via NFL.com"
The quote has been taken out of context where Adams is criticized for saying Carr and Rodgers are identical which is far from the truth. They have similarities but also have stark differences in their release and the way they throw the ball, but the similarities are enough to make Adams believe he has a good chance to succeed in the desert with Derek.
The fact is that while the fan bases try to say Davante Adams picked Derek Carr over Aaron Rodgers that is not an accurate representation of the move. Davante Adams asked to be traded to reunite with Carr and to not play with Jordan Love as his quarterback. A harsh reality but a reality.