Davante Adams will be staying at Aaron Rodgers’ place for a bit, at least until he gets settled in with the New York Jets.
On Wednesday morning, they drove to the team facility together and sat next to each other in the team meeting, just like they used to.
“I turned to him and just said, ‘Man, how crazy is this?’” Rodgers said with a big smile. “It’s something we joke about during the offseasons, but it never felt like it would actually happen. So it’s good to be with him.”
The two former Green Bay Packers teammates will reunite on the field in Pittsburgh this Sunday night, where Adams is excited to make his Jets debut and catch passes from Rodgers again. “Definitely, I’ll be able to roll,” Adams said.
Adams, who was traded from Las Vegas on Tuesday, was limited in the team’s walkthrough session. He missed the Raiders’ last three games due to a hamstring injury, which happened around the time he asked to be traded.
After a hectic 48 hours filled with speculation, he is back with Rodgers and wearing his familiar No. 17 jersey, now in green and white.
“It’s been a roller coaster, for sure,” Adams said. “It’s strange to say I’m happy, but it was time for a change. Everything unfolded in a weird way, but we’re in a better place now. I think the Raiders are in a better place, too. Everyone can move on. It’s definitely been a roller coaster — up and down and all around. But we got it done.”
Last season, the 31-year-old Adams caught 103 passes for 1,144 yards and eight touchdowns with the Raiders, after spending eight years with Rodgers in Green Bay.
This season, he had 18 receptions for 209 yards and one touchdown in three games before the hamstring injury and his trade request. Adams admitted he was frustrated and needed a change.
When asked about what he meant by both sides being better off, Adams said, “let me choose my words carefully here” and discussed how he had different views on his usage, the offensive strategies, and how defenses were playing against him.
“Just because they want to line up with the safety and try to play cover-2, we don’t just shut it down and move on,” Adams said.
“Sometimes you’ve got to find a way to still make the play work because if you’re just looking for single coverage for me to make a play, I won’t be able to make many plays over the course of a year, just based on how I’m being played by a lot of these defenses.
“I think some of it is: Get me to a place where I’ve got a lot of familiarity with this offense and the quarterback. (Rodgers) understands how I see the game and how I see the ball thrown and all those things, and sometimes he can make it easier.”
Adams and Rodgers will quickly reconnect on the field, which was one of the best quarterback-wide receiver partnerships in recent NFL history. Adams caught 615 passes from Rodgers for 7,517 yards and 68 touchdowns during their eight seasons together in Green Bay. That’s the most in all three categories between any active players.
He’ll join a now crowded group of Jets wide receivers that includes Garrett Wilson, who leads New York with 41 receptions, along with Allen Lazard, Mike Williams, Xavier Gipson, Irvin Charles, and rookie Malachi Corley. There are some questions about how new offensive play caller Todd Downing will fit everyone into the system while also bringing Adams in.
“It’s a really cool problem to have,” interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “It’s going to give us an opportunity to have more flexibility in moving these guys around.”
Williams, who signed as a free agent last offseason, has had difficulty building a connection with Rodgers. He was the intended receiver when Rodgers threw interceptions during the Jets’ last offensive series in losses to Buffalo and Minnesota.
Rodgers mentioned that Williams was in the wrong position on the throw that was intercepted by Taron Johnson on Monday night.
Adams’ arrival particularly complicates Williams’ role in the offense. Williams was not at the team’s walkthrough on Wednesday for what the team labeled as “personal” reasons.
Meanwhile, ESPN reported that Adams restructured his contract to lower his salary cap this season and added two voidable years, allowing for future negotiations. His salary cap hit would be $44.1 million in each of the next two seasons.
Adams made it clear that he sees the Jets as a long-term option. “I mean, I hope so,” he said. “That’s the plan. I want to be here. I never go somewhere hoping to find a new home.”
