Davante Adams with the Green Bay Packers catches a pass during a game against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 23, 2018. | Wikimedia/Keith Allison
Davante Adams with the Green Bay Packers catches a pass during a game against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 23, 2018. | Wikimedia/Keith Allison
Davante Adams wants Green Bay Packers fans to know they’ll always have a place in his heart.
"That phone call back in 2014 was one of my most memorable moments and I promised myself then that I would do everything in my power to repay you for taking a chance on me,” Adams wrote in a farewell post on Instagram that came just hours after the team moved to deal him to the Las Vegas Raiders. “We accomplished a lot together and even through the tough times, you always had my back and your trust in me has never wavered. I can’t thank you enough for seeing in me what no one else did.”
Selected by the team in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft as a little-known, still unproven commodity, Adams leaves Green Bay as arguably the league’s top wideout, along with ranking second in team history in catches (669), fourth in receiving yards (8,121), second in receiving touchdowns (73), first in receptions per game (5.8) and third in receiving yards per game (70.0), according to Yahoo! Sports.
A five-time Pro Bowler during his time in Green Bay, Adams also made it a point of thanking all his coaches and teammates.
He made the Pro Bowl five straight seasons (2017-21) and was a two-time first-team All-Pro (2020, 2021).
“To all of my teammates over these past eight years, you made coming to work every day worth it,” he said. “The relationships I’ve made here will stick with me for the rest of my life and I’m incredibly lucky to have gone to battle with you every Sunday. I appreciate you for believing in me and for challenging me to be better every single day.”
The Packers moved to deal Adams after he made it clear he had no intentions of playing under the franchise tag as the team worked to put itself under the league-wide salary cap. As part of the deal, which reunited Adams with college teammate Derek Carr, the team secured a first- and second-round draft pick.
Through it all, Packers’ executives have wasted little time in working to find a replacement for Adams and a new favorite target for MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Among the free-agent names being tossed around are Julio Jones, Jarvis Landry and Will Fuller, according to SB Nation. With two first-round picks in the upcoming draft, that seems another option, though the team hasn’t chosen a receiver in the first round in decades.
Alerts Sign-up