When the Green Bay Packers traded Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders in March 2022, Jordan Love was on the Packers’ roster. He just hadn’t gotten a chance to showcase his talent yet.
Aaron Rodgers was still under center for Green Bay at that time, and Adams obviously wasn’t sure what the future held with speculation that Rodgers could soon be on his way out.
The Packers ended up trading Rodgers following the 2022 campaign, opening the door for Love to start in 2023. Love responded by throwing for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, leading Green Bay to a Wild Card Round playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Looking back, Adams doesn’t regret the trade, but he is happy to see Love thriving.
“In hindsight, like we talked about, the kid is a (expletive) baller, man. I’m so happy for him,” Adams told Maxx Crosby on The Rush podcast. “I haven’t had the chance to truly sit down and talk with him, but I want to tell him at some point ‘I definitely don’t regret changing, but I’m super proud of what you’ve done. If there was a way I could pull you over here and drag you with me that would have been cool too.’ Because, obviously, we saw what he did at the end of the year. I don’t regret what I did, but, at the same time, it’s definitely you look back on it like ‘damn that boy kind of balling right now.’”
Adams doesn’t have nearly the same type of quarterback situation in Las Vegas.
The Raiders will likely be trotting out Aidan O’Connell under center in 2024, and they also signed Gardner Minshew to provide some competition (and potentially some insurance) heading into next season.
Adams initially reunited with his former Fresno State teammate Derek Carr when he first got to the Raiders and hauled in 100 receptions for 1,516 yards and a league-leading 14 touchdowns in his debut campaign with the club, but Las Vegas moved on from Carr after 2022.
This past year, Adams caught 103 passes for 1,144 yards and eight scores in what was actually his least productive season since 2019.
Needless to say, deep down, Davante Adams probably wishes he were still in Green Bay, where he would be forming a likely lethal connection with Jordan Love.
We’ll see if he is able to get the most out of O’Connell and the Raiders’ offense come September.
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