All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams faced a career-defining decision in the 2022 offseason after the Green Bay Packers franchise, his football home for eight seasons (2014-2021), brand.
He considered signing a new long-term deal with the Packers, but without the commitment of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was coming off back-to-back NFL MVP wins in 2020 and 2021, Adams opted to ask for a reunion with his best. Fresno State college friend Derek Carr in requesting a trade with the Raiders. The Packers granted his wish by flipping him in exchange for Vegas’ 2022 first- and second-round picks, and Adams subsequently signed a five-year, $140 million contract.
However, Carr was only there to play with Adams for one season, a year in which he led the NFL with 14 receiving touchdowns, but the Raiders went 6-11 and missed the playoffs . Vegas then released Carr and opted to draft former 49ers starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in 2023. He ended up being benched for rookie Aidan O’Connell’s fourth-round pick and was cut this offseason. The Vegas quarterback’s only notable move since then was signing journeyman Gardner Minshew to a $25 million contract.
Meanwhile in Green Bay, Love played like a franchise quarterback last season: his 32 regular-season touchdown passes were second in the NFL, and he helped lead the seventh-seeded Packers to to a resounding 48-32 playoff victory over second. Top-seeded Dallas Cowboys. Love broke the Packers’ playoff passing records (157.2) and passing yards per attempt (13) while passing for 272 yards and three touchdowns as he completed 16 of 21 passes. He nearly led another upset the following week against the eventual NFC champion San Francisco 49ers in a 24-21 loss in the NFC Divisional Round.
“At the time I was there [in Green Bay]I hadn’t seen enough [of Love]to say with certainty ‘this is what I should do [stay with the Packers]” Adams said on “The Rush Podcast” with Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby on Tuesday. “Looking back, as we talked about it, the kid [Love] is a fucking ballplayer, man. I’m so happy for him. I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and talk with him, but I’d like to tell him at some point, “I have absolutely no regrets about changing.” [teams], but I’m super proud of what you did. If there was a way for me to bring you here and train with me, that would have been cool too because we saw what he did at the end of the year. [throw 23 touchdowns and only three interceptions in his last 10 games including the playoffs]. I don’t regret what I did [demand a trade to the Raiders]but at the same time you look back on it and think ‘damn boy, he’s playing right now.’
When asked if Love could “be next” or be the next Packers franchise quarterback, Adams believes Green Bay and the football world already have their answer to that question. Love is one of five players in NFL history to throw for more than 4,000 yards (4,159) and more than 30 passing touchdowns (32) in their first season as a starting quarterback full-time NFL player, also joining Hall of Hamer Kurt Warner (1999). ), Patrick Mahomes (2018), Justin Herbert (2020) and Brock Purdy (2023)
“I think he is. I think he showed it,” Adams said. “He’s starting to blossom. You can see the way he speaks in front of the media and everything. It’s like a completely different person than what I saw when I was there. That comes with the experience.”
Adams is now experiencing what it’s like to be without a high-caliber quarterback for the first time in his career with the Raiders, while the Packers haven’t had that feeling since 1991, the season before the arrival by Brett Favre in Green Bay.
