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Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams addressed speculation that he was seeking a trade to the New York Jets in order to to reunite with longtime former Green Bay Packers teammate Aaron Rodgers.
Adams, 31, appeared on Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast this week and denied that trade discussions had occurred.
“Well, I’ll answer it like this: If I’m gonna be reunited with anybody, it would be Aaron — or relocated and be anywhere, it’d be with Aaron,” Adams said. “But that’s not really my — there was a lot of that stuff going on last year in the media and them asking, ‘What are you gonna do about this? Are you thinking about going here?’ And they talk about whatever without me even being involved in it.
“And it ended up getting all the way to the point where it got in the locker room, and people was thinking that I was the driving force, and I’m like, y’all just don’t understand, man. When you — and I hate to say it like this because it makes me sound like I’m trying to put myself on a pedestal — but when you’re a certain level of player, it don’t have to come from you, and oftentimes it’s not coming from you.”
Adams was featured in the Netflix series Receiver released last week, which showed him voicing his frustration during the Raiders' struggles under then-head coach Josh McDaniels, his gratitude for spending time with Rodgers when the Jets were in Las Vegas for the teams' Week 10 matchup and his endorsement of then-interim coach Antonio Pierce being eventually hired as the Raiders' full-time head coach.
“I’m actively on the Raiders. What do I look like sitting here talking to other people about being on another team? And that’s how I still feel about it right now,” said Adams, who’s entering the third season of a five-year, $140 million contract. “I’m locked in with the Raiders and I really feel good about this team, and as far as I know they feel good about me. If that ever changes, if that got to a point where they weren’t feeling the same way, I ain’t done playing, so obviously we would figure out whatever we needed to figure out.”
Adams did, however, reminisce of his time with Rodgers, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury on his first drive with the Jets last season, during his Club Shay Shay appearance.
“The thought of playing with Aaron is obviously amazing,” Adams said. “I already know what that’s like — which is similar to why I came here and reunited with [former Fresno State teammate] Derek [Carr] was ’cause I had familiarity with him. And anytime you have that, it gives you a little bit more confidence than starting fresh with somebody you’ve never played with before, and it helps when they’re the best to ever play the game — or at least that’s how I feel. I don’t know how you feel about that, but that’s certainly how I feel, and [Rodgers has] given me an opportunity to show the world what I can do.”
Adams recorded 103 receptions for 1,144 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023, despite the Raiders' inconsistency at the quarterback position.