Could the Packers use the franchise tag on Davante Adams?

The Green Bay Packers have a lot of significant decisions to make this offseason, but perhaps the biggest is sorting out the future of wide receiver Davante Adams.

Adams is set to become a free agent, and contract talks with the Packers have reportedly failed to progress since the end of the season. As a result, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, the Packers will “almost certainly” use the franchise tag on Adams. The aim would be to prevent Adams from reaching the open market, thus buying the Packers more time to work out a long-term contract.

Adams probably would not be thrilled with this arrangement considering how much money he reportedly wants. However, keeping Adams is imperative for Green Bay. He’s Aaron Rodgers’ favorite target, and could even factor in the QB's decision whether to return or not.

The franchise tag would pay Adams just over $19 million in 2022. That is well short of what he wants and might sour relations between himself and Green Bay, but the Packers might not have any choice but to go that route.