GREEN BAY, Wis. – Unable to find a trade partner, the New York Jets released receiver Davante Adams on Tuesday. Adams automatically became the No. 1 receiver on the free-agent market and an obvious target for his former team, the Green Bay Packers.
In a season split between the Raiders and Jets – teams that went a combined 9-25 in 2024 – Adams caught 85 passes for 1,063 yards and eight touchdowns. It marked his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard season; it would have been seven in a row but he finished with 997 yards in 12 games in 2019.
With the Packers coming off three consecutive 13-win seasons – a first in NFL history – they traded Adams to the Raiders for first- and second-round picks in 2022. Adams, entering his final season under contract, unsure of Aaron Rodgers’ future in Green Bay and not prepared to hitch the back end of his career to an unproven quarterback, got a five-year, $140 million contract from the Raiders.
However, with the Raiders going nowhere fast in 2024, he was traded to New York, where he reunited with Rodgers in hopes of saving the sinking Jets. New York was 2-3 at the time of the trade but went 3-8 afterward.
It wasn’t Adams’ fault. In 11 games, he caught 67 passes for 854 yards and seven touchdowns. Put that over 17 games, that translates to 104 receptions for 1,320 yards and 10.8 touchdowns.
“This is an elite player,” a source said on Tuesday night. “Two (bad) teams, 14 games and still over a thousand yards.”
While no teams were willing to trade for Adams – or his $35.6 million base salary for 2025 – there will be no shortage of suitors in free agency.
If the Jets would have kept Rodgers for 2025, Adams probably would have remained in New York, as well. However, with the Jets nuking everything after the Aaron Rodgers Experiment bombed, both players are looking for a new team.
It’s possible Adams will be a package deal with Rodgers, but Adams wants to win and there’s no guarantee that a team with a chance to win will go after Rodgers.
Thus, Adams – a free agent for the first time in his career – could get a chance to pick his team.
And his quarterback.
Could that quarterback be the Packers’ Jordan Love?
Don’t rule it out. While NFL Network mentioned Adams could land with a West Coast team, he definitely would consider a return to the Packers, who drafted him in the second round in 2014 and for whom he earned Pro Bowl honors all five seasons from 2017 through 2021.
“At the time when I was there [in Green Bay], I hadn’t necessarily seen enough to say this is for sure what I should do,” Adams said during an April appearance on then-Raiders teammate Maxx Crosby’s podcast. “But in hindsight, like we talked about, the kid is a f***ing baller, man. I’m so happy for him.
“I want to tell him at some point like, ‘I definitely don’t regret changing [teams], but I’m super-proud of what you’ve done. If there’s a way I could pull you over here [to Las Vegas] and drag you with me like that, that would’ve been cool, too,’ because we saw what he did at the end of the year (in 2023).”
The Packers have an obvious need at receiver after their young group failed to take a step forward in 2024, Christian Watson sustained a torn ACL in the final game off the regular season and Romeo Doubs suffered two concussions.
“The whole talk about needing a veteran, I’m hoping these guys continue to grow into veterans – and most of them are,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine. “The amount of games they have under their belt, not only regular-season games but playoff games, as well.
“So, experience matters, but our guys, even though they may be young in age have a lot of experience, and I want these guys to continue to grow together. Like I stated at the end of the season, I think we all have to understand that level of urgency we all need to get to where we want to go.”
That “sense of urgency” line would suggest Gutekunst will actively explore the veteran market rather than rolling the dice on an early draft pick. The Packers, however, wouldn’t be the only team in pursuit of Adams, who ranks fourth among active players and 20th all-time with 957 receptions and third among active players and 23rd all-time with 103 touchdown catches.
At the Super Bowl, running back Josh Jacobs said the Packers needed to add a “proven” receiver. Jacobs and Adams were teammates in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, Jacobs led the NFL in rushing yards and Adams led the NFL in receiving touchdowns.
With the Cincinnati Bengals using the franchise tag on Tee Higgins, the free-agent group of receivers isn’t exactly brimming with game-changing talent.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Chris Godwin, who turned 29 last week, is coming off a season-ending ankle injury. The Houston Texans’ Stefon Diggs is 31 and coming off a torn ACL. Amari Cooper, who will turn 31 in June, was a nonfactor after being acquired by the Buffalo Bills. DeAndre Hopkins, who will turn 33 in June, didn’t make much of an impact after being acquired by the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chicago Bears’ Keenan Allen will turn 33 next month. The New York Giants’ Darius Slayton is 28 but hasn’t touched 775 yards in six seasons. Diontae Johnson, whose only 1,000-yard season came in 2021, played for three teams last year. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Williams, who will turn 31 in October, caught 21 passes in 18 games for two teams.
So, it’s little wonder that Adams will be a man in demand as the three-time first-team All-Pro gets a chance to pick his team for a chance at an elusive Super Bowl ring.
Maybe Adams was having fun on social media. Or perhaps this Instagram post spelled out a desire to return to the team where he starred for eight seasons.
Taking stock of Green Bay’s roster, Adams during an appearance on Up & Adams said: “It’s looking right now like, obviously, they might need some receiver help in one way or the other just based off of what they have available. And maybe a veteran or something in there.”
