NFL off-seasons are filled with posturing, leaks, and leverage. Star players and organizations do their best to control narratives as rosters change. Green Bay has spent the last few seasons in the eye of the storm. Not just with the Aaron Rodgers drama, but with the Davante Adams situation as well.
Rumors of reasons for Adams departure existed, but no one had heard the truth from Adams himself. Until now. Appearing on the I Am Athlete podcast, Adams touched every corner. First discussing Aaron Rodgers and his desire to be viewed as a Hall of Famer without him.
“That’ll never be the narrative ever again. It proved that I am me.. A quarterback doesn’t make me. I make me. And I can do it consistently at this level. I’ve already proved it throughout the course of a season, played every game and put together a résumé that says I do not need …You can erase all the numbers. You can just write in ‘He didn’t need Aaron Rodgers.’”
Adams also intimated that Rodgers wobbling may have been to blame for his departure.
“I had some decisions to make so that’s basically what came down to that, and obviously the whole Aaron thing and his uncertainty of his future in Green Bay factored in heavy for me.”
But Adams went on to say that everything truly boiled down to the money. He said the original offer he got from the front office was less than $20 million. It was the reason he was traded to the Raiders who gave him $28 million in an extension. Adams said had the Packers given him a fair contract offer he “would have been in Green Bay for sure.” When host Brandon Marshall reacted confused by the Packers offer, Adams agreed.
“I feel the same way. That’s why I was confused. And I showed up on my team. I was the leader that I was supposed to be and showed up and put it all on the line. Wasn’t like I was playing ball like I didn’t have security either. Like I was out there flying across the middle, doing my thing like I always do, and then unfortunately that didn’t work out.”
But Adams holds no ill will towards the organization, stating he still communicates with Green Bay’s leadership.
“Honestly, there’s no bad blood. I still respect and talk to a lot of those guys over there and check in. I still follow the Packers on Instagram to just let them know I still got love for them and the community. I actually texted [Gutekunst]and checked in on him and just said hello. I think it was during the Pro Bowl when some of the guys were out here. I also texted Matt LaFleur on his birthday and said Happy Birthday. So like I said, genuine love over there. I talked to Mark Murphy, the president over there and had a good conversation after a round of golf. So yeah, nothing but love for those people over there at this point.”
John Kuhn, reacting on his radio show, leaned towards the Rodgers reasoning and challenged Davante’s comments.
“I’ll say this: Davante Adams would have been on that same trajectory had he stayed in Green Bay. If it’s about the Hall of Fame for him, if it’s about his legacy, he would have been on that same trajectory with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.
You want to really flip the script and prove people wrong? Stay in Green Bay and play with Aaron Rodgers last year. Play with Jordan Love and put up the same stats.
To me, the only way you leave a talent like Aaron Rodgers throwing you the football, and targeting you with the football immensely, the only way you take away those opportunities is if you just don’t want to put up with everything else that’s involved in it.
I think Davante Adams, to me as I hear this, as I read this, it says to me that he was just tired of the Aaron Rodgers hoop-la. He was tired of everything else that was going on in Green Bay and he was ready to go and separate himself from all that stuff. Maybe he was tired of the late-season failures. It just triggered me as weird.”
The full podcast with Davante is fantastic. Click here to watch:
