The Green Bay Packers front office has done all it can to alienate Davante Adams. A month after contract extension talks broke down between the organization and star receiver, the latest buzz out of Green Bay suggests zero progress has been made since.
ESPN.com insider Jeremy Fowler did a deep dive that went live Wednesday on star players whose new contracts are on the horizon. Adams was prominently featured, and Fowler reported that contract talks for Adams “haven’t picked up steam.”
Furthermore, the Packers’ “antiquated” approach to contracts, where they only truly guarantee signing bonuses and nothing else, is a sticking point.
The implication here is that, because of the front office’s inability to evolve that approach, Green Bay’s stars wind up with bloated contracts that tend to be backloaded. That’s part of the reason why the Packers routinely fail to retain their own free agents.
Just look at their projected salary cap deficit of $46.5 million in 2022, per Over the Cap. Yikes.
Green Bay Packers could lose Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers in 2022
- Davante Adams stats (2020): 115 receptions, 1,374 yards, 18 touchdowns
- Aaron Rodgers stats (2020): 372-of-526 passing attempts (70.7%), 4,299 yards, 48 touchdowns, 5 interceptions; 38 carries, 149 yards, 3 touchdowns
Adams is arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL at the moment, and he just combined with superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers for a phenomenal 2020 campaign. Rodgers won MVP, with 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love waiting in the wings to take his spot.
Talk about a master class in how not to handle your best players. Green Bay’s brass is excelling in all the worst ways.
One more key detail from ESPN’s report: Adams absolutely does not want the franchise tag in 2022. Fowler writes that Adams “would probably make next offseason mighty interesting” if that happens.
Well, we saw how mighty interesting Rodgers made this offseason.
So, if an agreement can’t be reached on an extension — which should be somewhere around $25 million per year or even more — Adams will hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent. He has tons of leverage already, and could be in an even more favorable position if he plays at an elite level for another season.
If Rodgers winds up fighting his way out of Green Bay via trade, he could essentially be a package deal with Adams. For cap purposes, the Packers might want to re-sign Adams and then flip him with Rodgers for a gigantic haul of draft picks — provided there’s a team willing to pay that price.
Things might get even more complicated if Green Bay happens to win the Super Bowl. Will winning cure everything? Is that enough to keep Rodgers and Adams with the Packers? Right now, even a Lombardi Trophy doesn’t feel like enough to avoid a parting of ways.
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