Getty Wide receiver Davante Adams #17 of the Green Bay Packers catches a first half touchdown pass against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on December 19, 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams left for Las Vegas Thursday, and one of his ex-teammates wasted little time before initiating the recruitment of two possible replacements.
Packers safety Adrian Amos took to Twitter on St. Patrick’s Day and proposed a professional reunion between Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. The two wideouts played together for nearly three seasons as members of the Cleveland Browns and both remain free agents. While Amos has never played with either wide receiver during his NFL career, the suggestion was that the two reunite at his current location in Green Bay.
@obj 👀 @God_Son80 👀 yaw tryna play together again? 😂😂😂
“@OBJ 👀 @God_Son80 👀 yaw tryna play together again? 😂 😂 😂 ,” Amos tweeted.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Monday, March 14 that the Packers are suitors for Landry after the Browns released him last weekend. News on Beckham’s future after winning a Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams has been sparser, as the three-time Pro Bowl pass catcher recovers from an ACL he tore in the title game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
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List of Free Agent WRs Available to Packers Dwindling
Getty ImagesWide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. of the Los Angeles Rams.
A few days ago, the Packers would have had a deeper pool of wide receivers they could pursue in free agency. But the talent at that position thinned considerably after Mike Williams re-signed with the Los Angeles Chargers, Chris Godwin returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the franchise tag before inking a multiyear deal, and former Chicago Bears wideout Allen Robinson jumped to the Rams.
Matt Schneidman, Packers reporter for The Athletic, tweeted out his colleague Sheil Kapadia’s list of the top six wideouts left in free agency. Both of Amos’ recruitment targets were slotted at the top of that list.
Here are @SheilKapadia‘s top available free-agent WRs: Odell Beckham Jr. (coming off torn ACL), Jarvis Landry, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Will Fuller and Julio Jones.
“Here are @SheilKapadia’s top available free-agent WRs: Odell Beckham Jr. (coming off torn ACL), Jarvis Landry, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Will Fuller and Julio Jones,” Schneidman wrote.
Valdez-Scantling has spent his entire four-year career in Green Bay and may be the easiest name in that group for the Packers to secure. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky laid out the team’s current situation at the position, which looks much bleaker now that Adams is headed to the desert.
Green Bay now is in major need at the receiver spot. Two of the receivers in their rotation last season are free agents: deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown. The Bears signed St. Brown on Thursday, but now the Packers have cap space to bring back Valdes-Scantling if they choose. They also put the second-round tender on restricted free-agent receiver Allen Lazard. Randall Cobb also returned to the Packers but with a massive pay cut from $7.875 to $2.075 million.
At this point, the Packers’ top receivers on their depth chart are Lazard, Cobb, Amari Rodgers and Malik Taylor. But now they have the cap space and draft capital to rebuild the position. They have not drafted a receiver in the first round since 2002, when they picked Javon Walker at No. 20 overall.
The Packers have also been urged to pursue Fuller via free agency, who had a promising campaign in 2020 before playing in just two games last season due to a broken finger.
QB Aaron Rodgers Knew Adams Wasn’t Returning to Green Bay
GettyWR Davante Adams (left) congratulates QB Aaron Rodgers (right) of the Green Bay Packers after scoring a two-point conversion during the second half of a game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Dignity Health Sports Park on November 3, 2019 in Carson, California.
Adams’ seemingly abrupt exit from Green Bay sent shockwaves through the NFL universe. In fact, it appeared to surprise just about everyone but Adams’ long-time teammate and quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Rodgers had previously known that his return to the team meant playing without Adams.
“While Aaron Rodgers was negotiating his contract, he knew Davante Adams would never play for the #Packers again,” Rapoport tweeted Thursday. “The situation was too far gone. Something had to give. And when Adams informed GB he wasn’t playing on the tag, talks got fired up. Now, Adams will be on the #Raiders.”
The Raiders paid a premium for their new addition, offering Adams the most lucrative contract ever signed by wide receiver in NFL history — a five-year deal worth $141.25 million.
Green Bay used the franchise tag last week to retain Adams for the upcoming season at the price of $20.14 million. That money will now presumably go to replacing him on the roster, whether that is accomplished with Beckham, Landry, both of the former Browns wide receivers or a different pass catcher(s) entirely.
Green Bay also acquired a first-round and a second-round pick from the Raiders in return for Adams, giving the Packers four selections in the first two rounds of the 2022 NFL Draft that they can use to rebuild the position group.