What Rams' Davante Adams regrets about short-lived stint with Jets

The New York Jets' acquisition of wide receiver Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders in October ultimately couldn't save a team that finished the season with a 5-12 record before the Jets moved on from both Adams and veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers. 

During a recent conversation with Michael Silver of The Athletic, Adams shared how his "cockiness" leads him to believe he could've done more for the 2024 Jets had he joined the club ahead of Week 1. 

"The leader in me likes to think that if I was there earlier, I could have had a bigger impact and maybe changed some things — just the morale of the team, getting guys used to winning and that different type of culture, just kind of shifting that a little bit earlier. But getting there Oct. 15th is not an ideal time to make too many changes," Adams explained. 

Adams was linked to the Jets throughout last summer, as he became one of Rodgers' favorite targets when the two were teammates with the Green Bay Packers from 2014 to 2021. While Adams recorded 67 receptions for 854 yards and seven touchdowns across 11 games with the Jets, the locker room seemed never to recover from the in-season firing of head coach Robert Saleh, which occurred when New York was 2-3. 

Jets owner Woody Johnson later showed general manager Joe Douglas the door in November. 

It became clear even before the end of the 2024 campaign that Johnson wanted to give a new regime a fresh start that included the organization parting ways with both Adams and Rodgers. In March, the Los Angeles Rams signed Adams to a two-year contract that could be worth up to $44M. 

Adams is essentially serving as a replacement for Cooper Kupp after the Rams released the fan-favorite earlier this offseason. 

"This is like true optimism versus just hoping," Adams said about joining a Rams side that has a Super Bowl champion in Matthew Stafford as its QB1 and that notched a wild-card playoff win over the Minnesota Vikings this past January. "Obviously, knowing what I know about the management there, the players, the team success they’ve had in recent years and just over time … those are usually the type of teams that have stressed success. The most important thing was [joining] a good, winning team."