Getty Davante Adams, Raiders receiver and beloved ex-Packer
So, you’re saying there’s a chance …
Well, all right, it is a longshot, and maybe even more than that. But ever since the Packers let wide receiver Davante Adams go in a trade to the Raiders in 2022, there’s been a swath of folks in Green Bay who really, really would like him to come back. What’s a class guy like Adams doing with an organization like the Raiders, anyway?
You get the feeling Adams himself is starting to ask that question, too, and if that is the case, it is not a far logical leap for Adams to pack up from his Vegas getaway and come back home to northern Wisconsin, where he could be a Packer again.
Or as Packers beat man for The Athletic Matt Schneidman put it:
What do y’all think of this photoshop I just did of the newest Packer after the trade deadline?
It would be a many-stepped process for that to actually come to fruition, especially here in the short term, but the first two steps, at least, seem to be in place.
Step 1: Let the Raiders turn dysfunctional. Check.
Step 2: Let Adams turn irritable and discontent in Las Vegas.
It is early yet, but we may have gotten a check mark on that one, too. Last night after the Raiders’ bizarre home loss to the Steelers, Adams—who had 172 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 13 catches—spoke to reporters and did not sound gung-ho about his future in silver-and-black.
At least, there was one line from his postgame meeting with the media that stood out most for the 31-year-old Adams: “I don’t got time to wait around.”
Adams Missing a Super Bowl on his Resume
Indeed, Adams’ window as a top-flight receiver in the league is closing, and for all his individual accomplishments—six Pro Bowl selections, three All-Pro honors—he was not part of the Packers’ Super Bowl club in 2010. Adams helped the Packers to four NFC championship game appearances in his career, but was 0-4.
Odd to think a player as driven to excellence as Adams has never even been to a Super Bowl, let alone won one.
It’s early, but the Raiders have been a bit of a mess through three weeks. They are minus-7 in turnover differential, having given away six interceptions and one fumble, without getting even one turnover to their credit. That’s tied for worst in the NFL. They’re 28th in points scored and 24th in points allowed, and have the league’s worst-ranked rushing game.
In other words, Adams is going to have to wait around if he wants this team to become a Super Bowl contender.
“You gotta take care of the ball,” Adams said. “You look at all these analytics and all these things teams that won with the turnover battle, and all these things—they don’t mean sh** until you go out there and you play ball. We are having a tough time consistently doing that right now.
“It’s not my mentality to try to sit here and take all season to figure it out, use these early games like this to establish our identity, and we not doing things the right way to establish a winning culture early in the season. So, we’ve got to do something to turn that around.”
No Expectations of an Adams GB Return (But …)
Now, we are only at the stage now where we can say we feel bad for Adams, and that it’s unfortunate that things have not worked out for him in Las Vegas. He wanted to be traded to the Raiders because it was clear that the Packers could not pay him, and because he wanted to play with college teammate and old pal Derek Carr.
But Vegas released Carr in the offseason and brought in the oft-injured and frequently criticized Jimmy Garoppolo. Meanwhile, the Packers have done well with the two picks they got for Adams, using one on budding star linebacker Quay Walker and the other in a package to pick Christian Watson. If all Packers fans can do is send Adams their best wishes while hoping that Watson and Walker can fulfill their potential as positional franchise anchors, no one would much complain.
If, though, there is a chance that Adams wants a trade at the October 31 deadline? And if the Packers keep showing great promise here in the early season, with the only missing element being a reliable veteran pass-catcher to push forward the development of Jordan Love (with whom he’d had some chemistry)?
Well, the idea—Davante Adams (still the NFL’s top receiver) back in Green Bay—would be worth exploring, would it not?
A lot of boxes would need to be checked. Two of them already appear to be.