Davante Adams was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders less than two weeks after Aaron Rodgers committed to the Green Bay Packers with a new contract. The trade was a stunner, but reports soon surfaced that Rodgers knew Adams was gone when he agreed to his new deal. The star quarterback says that was not the case.
Rodgers appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” during the first round of the NFL Draft on Friday night. He spoke about the Adams trade, and he said he thought the All-Pro receiver was going to stick around in Green Bay with him.
“It was a little surprising with Davante — obviously when I made my decision, I was still thinking he was going to come back,” Rodgers said, as transcribed by ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. “I was very honest with him about my plans and my future and where I saw my career going, as far as how many years I want to play. But I felt like he was going to be back, didn’t obviously turn out that way but I have so much love for (Adams) and appreciate the time we spent together and definitely wish him the best in Derek (Carr) in Vegas.”
The Packers did not pick a receiver on Friday night. They went with a pair of Georgia defensive players — linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt — at Nos. 22 and 28, respectively. Rodgers was on the air with McAfee when Green Bay took Wyatt, and he said he knew Wyatt was a player the Packers were targeting.
Rodgers also mentioned how several wide receivers went earlier in the first round. He admitted teams have to “look at the asking price” associated with trading up and determine if that makes sense.
As for Adams, Rodgers insists he did not know his longtime teammate was going to demand a trade.
“There’s a lot of things that happen that surprise you, even still,” Rodgers said. “I thought that based on the number that we offered Davante and being able to play with me for a few more years would make a difference, but in the end I think he was ready to move on and wanted my help in making that happen.”
The Packers still have a major void at wide receiver. In addition to trading Adams, they also let Marquez Valdes-Scantling walk in free agency. Rodgers said he will continue to trust the team and Matt LaFleur’s offense.
We find it hard to believe that Rodgers was blindsided by the Adams trade. He had to have at least had an idea that the star receiver wanted out, especially given what we heard after the deal went through.
