Trading with Davante Adams is ‘tough’

The Green Bay Packers are under no illusions that Davante Adams is about to fall on his face without Aaron Rodgers throwing passes to him.

The Packers traded Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this month for a first-round pick (No. 22) and a second-round pick (No. 53) in the 2022 NFL Draft.

“Sometimes you have to make tough decisions,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur told NFL Network at owners’ meetings Sunday. “I definitely appreciate everything Davante has brought to our team. I mean, he’s the best receiver in the National Football League, so that was a tough question for me personally and for our organization.”

The Packers and Adams were unable to work out a contract extension, and Rodgers’ return after flirting with retirement and trade options failed to persuade Adams to stay. In fact, Adams reportedly refused to play in 2022 on the franchise tag the Packers used to ensure they didn’t lose the two-time First-Team All-Pro during free agency.

Adams owns a home in Las Vegas and is a former teammate at Fresno State with Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. LaFleur implied that Adams had put his heart into changing the address and would not be talked out of it. The Raiders immediately signed Adams to a five-year, $140 million extension, including a $65.6 million guarantee.

“Well, there really wasn’t anything to talk about,” he said. “I mean, you’re in contract negotiations and it was certainly one of those deals where, as I said, there were a lot of difficult decisions to be made.”

The Packers are in the market for a new No. 1 receiver for Adams but reportedly didn’t dive deep into the Tyreek Hill sweepstakes before it was traded to the Dolphins, much to the Jets’ dismay.